The three prime accused in the abduction case of the schoolgirl -- who was thought to have been raped and murdered before being found alive 51 days after her disappearance -- have applied to the court seeking withdrawal of their confessional statements in Narayanganj.
The accused recorded their plea with Senior Judicial Magistrate Kausar Alam on Monday afternoon, stating they were tortured and forced by the then Sadar Model police station OC Pradeep to record the false confessional statements.
Confirming the incident, Adv Rokon Uddin, lawyer for the defendants, said: “The court registered their plea and will take a decision on the matter after police submit the charge sheet.”
Meanwhile, the court rejected a remand plea by police for the teenager’s husband, Iqbal. However, police can question the accused at the jail gate, confirmed Inspector Asaduzzaman of Narayanganj Court Police.
The court also rejected the bail plea of the three accused and sent the three to jail, confirmed the lawyer.
SI Shamim will be sued by police soon, says superintendent of Narayanganj police
Police will soon file a case against Sub-inspector Shamim Al Mamun, the investigation officer of the case who reportedly tortured the three accused to have them make confessional statements.
Mohammed Jayedul Alam, superintendent of Narayanganj police, confirmed the matter on Monday evening.
“We received the probe body report which states with evidence that SI Shamim has practised his powers illegally to obtain false confessions from the accused and also took bribes from their families,” said the officer.
“Therefore, we will soon file a case against the policeman. We cannot reveal more information about the case as a legal procedure is ongoing,” added the officer.
Also Read- Narayanganj schoolgirl mystery: Police probe body claims involvement of suspects
The 15-year-old, who had been presumed dead, went missing on July 4.
Following her disappearance, acting on a case filed by the girl’s father on August 4, police arrested the three suspects in connection with the reported abduction.
On August 9, the accused made confessional statements in the courts of Senior Judicial Magistrate Milton Hossain and Judicial Magistrate Ahmed Humayun Kabir.
The trio confessed that they had dumped the teenager’s dead body in the Shitalakhya river after raping and murdering her.
In a surprising turn of events, on Sunday, Iqbal Pandit, allegedly the husband of the schoolgirl, called her family and informed them that she was alive and living with him.
He, along with the schoolgirl, was detained shortly after by the police.
After being questioned by the police, the girl said she had taken off with her then boyfriend Iqbal Pandit to marry him and had remained absconding since then.
The prime suspect in the abduction case, Abdullah, with whom she was last seen on July 4, had, however, no knowledge of her intentions on the day, proving him innocent along with the two other suspects.
Earlier, following the arrests of the three suspects, SI Shamim claimed that the schoolgirl had been murdered and her body was dumped into the Shitalakhya River by the suspects.