Robbery, ‘sexual assault on bus’; case filed after 3 days

A case was filed on Friday at Mirzapur Police Station in Tangail, three days after the horrifying incident of robbery and ‘rape of two female passengers’ on a moving bus.

Mirzapur Police Station’s duty officer Md Khairul Bashar said three passengers of ‘Unique Road Royals Paribahan’—Omar Ali, Majnu Mia and Sohag Hasan—filed the case.

A gang of robbers hijacked a bus on the highway, looted cash and valuables worth Tk 7 lakh and allegedly raped two female passengers on February 17.

Suspecting the involvement of the bus staff -- driver Babul, supervisor Sumon and assistant supervisor Alam --in the incident, passengers handed them over to police after calling the national emergency helpline, 999.

The Natore district police produced them in court but they were freed on bail the following day, intensifying public outrage.

Incident Details

According to the case statement, on the night of  February 17, the plaintiffs -- Omar Ali, Majnu Mia, and Sohag Hasan, hailing from Natore and Rajshahi districts -- boarded the  Unique Road Royals passenger bus (registration no. Mymensingh B-11-0061) from Gabtoli, Dhaka.

The bus, carrying 40–45 passengers, picked up 6–7 more passengers from Hemayetpur bus station.

Around 1:30 am, during a rest stop at Chandra, another 8–9 passengers boarded the bus.

Around 2:00 am, as the bus reached the underpass near Kharajora Hi-Tech Park in Kaliakair upazila on the Dhaka-Tangail Highway, a group of robbers, armed with sharp weapons, took control of the vehicle.

Some of the robbers assaulted and looted passengers, seizing cash and valuables worth around Tk 7 lakh.

Several female passengers were on board and the robbers dragged one a woman to the back of the bus and raped her.

Another female passenger was also assaulted in the seat just before the back row.

After completing the robbery, the gang forced the driver to turn the bus at the Natia Para Nasir Glass U-turn in Delduar upazila and then drove towards Gazipur.

Passing through Kaliakair, Chandra, and Konabari, the bus eventually resumed its route towards Natore and Rajshahi.

In the early hours, the robbers disappeared at an unidentified location along the highway.

Upon reaching Natore, passengers reported the robbery and sexual assault to the Officer-in-Charge of Baraigram Police Station Sirajul Islam.

However, they were advised to contact Tangail’s Mirzapur and Kaliakair police stations instead.

Acting on directives from senior police officials, Mirzapur Police Station registered the case three days after the incident, on Friday (21 February).

The case was filed under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2000.

On Friday, Tangail Superintendent of Police Md Mizanur Rahman, Mirzapur Circle Assistant Superintendent of Police HM Mahbub Rezwan Chowdhury and other police officials visited key locations on the Dhaka-Tangail highway and Mirzapur Police Station.

SP Mizanur Rahman assured the media that all necessary measures would be taken to bring the criminals to justice.

Mirzapur Police Station’s Officer-in-Charge Md Mosharraf Hossain said as per the directives of senior officials, law enforcement agencies are employing technological resources to track down the suspects.

Forces from Gazipur, Natore, Rajshahi and Dhaka are assisting in the investigation.