Gazipur Metropolitan Detective Branch (DB) police have arrested two policemen and the sister of Raja, alias Pichchi Raja, 34, an accused in 30 cases who escaped while being taken from a Dhaka court to Kashimpur prison in Gazipur.
The police investigation has found that Pichchi Raja did not escape from the prison van but fled, according to a prior plan, in a private car that was waiting in the Tantibazar area of Dhaka. Five policemen who were on duty with the prison van have been suspended over the incident.
Those arrested are Sub-Inspector (SI) Prabir Kumar Biswas, who was with the prison van, its driver Nayek Kamal Hossain, and Pichchi Raja’s sister Taslima. The other three suspended policemen are constables Md Zakir Hossain, Md Sakib and Shakil Hossain.
Police Commissioner Md Israil Hawlader gave the details at a press briefing at the office of the Gazipur Metropolitan Police (GMP) commissioner on Monday.
The commissioner said 29 accused, including Pichchi Raja, were being escorted in a prison van to Kashimpur prison in Gazipur after appearing in court in Dhaka. A case was filed at Konabari police station after the accused escaped on the way, and the investigation was assigned to Inspector Syed Mizanur Islam of the GMP DB’s south division.
Citing the findings of the investigation, the commissioner said the prison van set off from the Dhaka district judge’s court and was stopped when it reached a spot near the Popular Diagnostic Centre in Tantibazar. The keys of the van were then taken from the officer in charge of the escort party, SI Prabir Kumar Biswas, and the driver, Nayek Kamal Hossain.
Pichchi Raja and another prisoner, Khairul Bashar, were then taken out of the van and brought to the front. Khairul Bashar sat in the seat beside the driver, but Pichchi Raja and SI Prabir Kumar did not get into the van.
The investigation also found that Pichchi Raja fled at that time in a waiting private car. A staged account was later created to present the incident differently, saying the prison van had stopped in the Baimail area of Gazipur and Pichchi Raja had slipped away after going to urinate.
The commissioner said SI Prabir Kumar Biswas, Nayek Kamal Hossain and Pichchi Raja’s sister Taslima were arrested on the basis of testimony and information obtained in the investigation. Tk 60,000 was recovered from Nayek Kamal Hossain’s home. The other three policemen who were in the prison van at the time have been kept under watch.
He added that a prison van is not allowed to stop anywhere on the way from prison to court or from court to prison, and must stop at the nearest police station if there is a major problem. There was no reason to stop at the place where the policemen on duty claimed the van had been stopped, he said.
The commissioner said departmental cases have been filed against the five suspended policemen, and their statements and other aspects of the incident are being examined. SI Prabir Kumar Biswas was in civilian clothes when the accused escaped, although a police officer on escort duty is not allowed to be in civilian clothes.
The investigating officer, Inspector Syed Mizanur Islam, said questioning the five suspended policemen had not yet produced specific and satisfactory information about the incident. The place from which the accused was first said to have escaped was also found to be incorrect, and the policemen gave different information about the location at different times.
He said police are initially certain that Pichchi Raja fled from the Tantibazar area of Dhaka. The incident is being closely investigated, and efforts are under way to arrest the fugitive and the others involved.
Raja, alias Pichchi Raja, known for his involvement in the drug trade in the Mohammadpur area of Dhaka, was arrested on 19 May this year. He faces about 30 cases.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report