Detective Branch (DB) of Police has arrested one of the eight perpetrators caught on camera sexually assaulting several women during Pohela Boishakh celebrations at Suhrawardy Udyan and the Dhaka University campus last year.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police announced the arrest on its Facebook page on Thursday afternoon, in the first major success in bringing the offenders to book in nearly a year.
The sex offender, Md Kamal, was arrested in a drive at a residence in the capital's Chawkbazar area on Wednesday night, DB South Deputy Commissioner (DC) Masrukur Rahman Khalid told the Dhaka Tribune.
Senior Assistant Police Commissioner Hasan Arafat led the drive.
This photo was taken from the Facebook page of Dhaka Metropolitan Police
He said police would produce the suspect before the court with remand plea in the afternoon.
"Kamal has beard on his face during the sexual assault incident but now he shaved off his beard," Masrukur added.
The arrestee admitted his involvement in the incidents of sexual assaults during primary interrogation.
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According to media reports, at least 20 women and children were reported to have been sexually assaulted by several gangs of stalkers in the afternoon and evening on April 14 near the Suhrawardy Udyan gate of the TSC.
Some youths of Bangladesh Chhatra Union, including its DU unit President Liton Nandi, caught two of the assualters and handed them over to the police. But they were later released.
On May 17 last year, police declared Tk1 lakh bounty for providing information to capture the eight sexual offenders.
The incident sparked a wave of protests throughout the country with people from all quarters condemning the incident and demanding the immediate arrest of the culprits.