Investigators say their findings so far do not match with what Dhallywood actress Pori Moni claimed in the case where she accused a businessman and five others of attempting to rape and murder her at a club.
Apart from analyzing CCTV camera footage from Dhaka Boat Club, investigators have also spoken to the security personnel on duty at the club on the night of the incident, reports Bangla Tribune.
“We are doing everything to find what really happened at the club that night. Our findings will be filed with the court,” said Additional Superintendent of Police (Savar Circle) Abdullahil Kafi, who is overseeing the probe.
On Monday, Pori Moni started a case against real estate businessman Nasir U Mahmood, Tuhin Siddique Omi and four others.
In the case statement, Pori Moni said that she, costume designer Junayed Karim Jimmy, Omi and her cousin Bonny left for Uttara in two separate cars on the night of June 8. At one point, Omi said that he had to stop at the Dhaka Boat Club at Ashulia for a couple of minutes to run an errand.
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They arrived at the club around 12:15am. Omi, seeing that the club was closed for the day, made a phone call after which the security personnel let them enter.
The actor said she and Bonny then left the car to use the restroom at the club.
However, the security camera footage showed as soon as the car stopped at the entrance of the club, Pori Moni and her companions walked into the club normally around 12:22am.
But the actor was carried out into a waiting car around 1:59am, said officials familiar with the investigation.
A senior Detective Branch official of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police said that after the incident, soon after the case was filed on Monday a manhunt was launched and suspects, Nasir, the entertainment and cultural affairs secretary of the club, and Omi were taken into custody.
The same day the court granted police seven days to quiz the suspects.
Police escort businessman Nasir U Mahmood, who is accused of attempting to rape and murder actress Pori Moni, to a Dhaka court for a remand hearing in a narcotics case on Tuesday, June 15, 2021| Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka Tribune
Omi said during interrogation that they went to the club and drank with Nasir. Later, an argument broke out between Pori Moni and a staffer of the club over taking a bottle of liquor. Nasir and the others with him then intervened, according to the Bangla Tribune report.
Before going to the club, they all drank at Pori Moni's Banani house, Omi said before adding playwright Chayanika Chowdhury was also with them at the actor’s home.
Omi told investigators that Nasir had slapped Pori Moni a few times. However, Nasir denied assaulting the actor during the interrogation, the report said citing sources.
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Following their arrest from Uttara, police pressed drug charges against Nasir and Omi over the recovery of liquor and yaba tablets during the raid. They have been remanded on the narcotics case.
Three women were also arrested with them, who have been remanded for three days in the same case.
“The moment Bonny got out of the car, Nasir asked us to enter the bar, take a seat, and have some coffee with him,” Pori Moni said in her written complaint filed with the police.
The actor said she tried to turn him down, but Nasir and Omi “forced her to drink liquor”.
As she refused the offer saying that she was feeling unwell, Nasir forced a bottle into her mouth, injuring her lips and teeth, reads the case statement.
An official involved in the probe said they will speak to Pori Moni and her companions to get the details.
Before filing the case, Pori Moni said to reporters that she was forced to drink something which made her feel uncomfortable. That is why she went to Banani police station on the night of the incident and behaved incoherently.
Sudip Kumar Chakraborty, deputy commissioner of Gulshan division police, said: “On June 8, Pori Moni came to Banani police station to lodge a complaint. But as she was unwell and spoke incoherently, a team of police rushed her to Evercare Hospital. She was asked to come to the police station the next day after recovering, but she did not come back.”
‘Attempt to shift focus’
Pori Moni has also been accused of vandalizing the All Community Club in Gulshan a day before the incident.
On Wednesday, the president of the All Community Club in Gulshan said the actor, who was accompanied by a man and woman, came into their facility and vandalized it.
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“She [Pori Moni] came to the club late on June 7. Pori Moni smashed some 15 glasses, nine ashtrays and some plates,” the club’s president KM Alamgir told the media.
The actor had gone there on the reference of one of the members, he said before adding that they have served that member with a show-cause notice.
Pori Moni and her companions left the club after police had been called, added Alamgir.
Speaking to the press on Thursday noon, AKM Hafiz Akhtar, additional commissioner (detectives) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), said that the agency will verify the allegations that have been brought against the film star.
He said that as the cases related to the Dhallywood actress are ongoing, she must be quizzed on all necessary matters.
"All those involved will be interrogated. We will be able to say more following further investigation and quizzing," he told the press.
“We have learned that she went to the All Community Club on June 8. The police were informed about the incident through a 999 phone call. We will investigate the matter if we receive an official complaint in this regard," the DB chief added.
However, speaking to the media on Wednesday, the actor described the allegations raised by the All Community Club as an attempt to shift the focus.
“If I have done those things, then why did it come to the media after so long? I didn’t sit silent after what happened to me at the club; I have informed everyone … This is an attempt to shift the focus from the real incident.”
She demanded proper investigation and trial for both the incidents.
On Sunday, the actress took to Facebook seeking justice from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina over the alleged attempt of rape and murder without naming anyone.
Hours later, she appeared before the media at her home and named Nasir as her attacker. The next day she started the case with the Savar police station.
