Cox's Bazar gang-rape: 3 accused placed on two-day remand

Three accused in the case of rape of a woman in Cox's Bazar have been remanded for two days on Monday (December 27) afternoon.

Senior Judicial Magistrate Hamimun Tasnim placed them on remand. Superintendent of Police (SP) of Cox's Bazar Tourist police Zillur Rahman confirmed the matter to The Business Standard.

He said that the police had applied for remand of five days after taking the accused to court.

The remanded are Rezaul Karim, Mamunur Rashid and Mehdi Hasan.

Zillur Rahman said the accused were arrested during a night raid on Saturday. Three of those named in the victim's statement were arrested.

The investigating officer of the case Inspector of Police Ruhul Amin said that the police is interrogating Riaz Uddin Chhoton, the manager of Zia Guest Inn Hotel, who is on a four-day remand.

On Thursday night, the husband of the woman filed a case with the Cox's Bazar Sadar Model Police Station alleging 'gang-rape', mentioning the names of four people and accusing three others.

The four accused named in the case are Ashiqul Islam Ashiq, Israfil Huda Joy alias Jaya, Mehedi Hasan Babu and Riaz Uddin Chhotan, manager of Zia Guest Inn Hotel of Cox's Bazar's Baharchhara area.

The prime accused in the case, Ashiqul Islam Ashiq, was arrested from Madaripur, RAB said.

A total of five people including Ashik have been arrested in this case so far.

The woman alleged that she was first taken to a shady tea shop in the city and then raped by three men. Then she was taken to a hotel called Zia Guest Inn in the hotel-motel zone. There, she was raped again.

Investigating officer of the case, tourist police officials said that few of the accused, including the main accused Ashiq, were acquaintances of the woman. They also said that the complainant woman has been in Cox's Bazar for three months.

The woman, who is the victim of 'gang rape', testified in the court of Cox's Bazar Senior Judicial Magistrate Hamimun Tanjin on Friday.

A senior official involved in the investigation said the woman told the court she had been ill since the birth of her child. At least Tk4 lakh is required for her child's treatment. They came to Cox's Bazar three months ago to raise that money. They have been renting rooms in different hotels in Cox's Bazar for three months, the woman said in her statement.

However, there is evidence that the complainant was in Cox's Bazar before. On 8 January this year, 54 men and women were arrested in a raid on a hotel-motel zone in Cox's Bazar. The woman was also among the detainees. She was also named as the 27th accused in a case filed by the police the next day. The case alleges human trafficking, brothel management and prostitution and aiding and abetting. She was released on bail on the 28th of the same month and she rejoined her previous profession, said Cox's Bazar Superintendent of Police Md Hasanuzzaman.

Cox's Bazar Sadar Model Police Station OC Sheikh Munir ul Gias said police were informed that she was pregnant when she was arrested.

The district police said that there were 18 cases against the main accused Ashiqul Islam Ashiq for various crimes including yaba and snatching. He is also accused of extorting money from more than 500 hotels in the hotel-motel zone of Cox's Bazar. The hotel owners say that if they did not pay the ransom, Ashik's forces would have taken them hostage and beaten them. Locals have complained that Ashiq has become desperate day by day at the behest of Awami League local MP and Cox's Bazar district's Chhatra League president.

According to law enforcement, Ashiq is the leader of a hijacking ring. But locals say he is the mastermind behind the gang crimes in Cox's Bazar. He led a gang of at least three dozen criminals. Those who used to extort money as well as sell and buy drugs in the hotel-motel zone.