People have started calling a police hotline to provide leads on the Pohela Boishakh sexual assaults as well as sending in emails with pictures of the incidents, the DB chief has said.
“The pictures have provided some informative clues which we did not get earlier, and we are now analysing them,” Detective Branch Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
Earlier, the DMP set up a hotline and an email address for witnesses or victims to provide any clues regarding the sexual assault on women during the Pohela Boishakh celebrations.
Although nobody stepped up with information on the first few days, DB Deputy Commissioner Jahangir Hossain Matubbor – who has been monitoring the hotline – has since received more than 300 phone calls or text messages.
Monirul Islam, also the spokesperson for the DMP, said many of the phone calls had no useful information at all or even had false information; regardless, the police were verifying all tip-offs carefully, he added.
“When we get information about a suspect, we check it out through local police stations and even interrogate the suspects; but we are yet to get any major breakthrough,” he said.
Meanwhile, the sexual harassment case, which was filed with Shahbagh police station, was transferred to the DB yesterday for further investigation.
Besides, a five-member committee headed by DMP Additional Commissioner (crime and operation) Ibrahim Fatemi will now also probe into the incidents. This committee will also look into allegations regarding the inaction of the police members stationed near the TSC intersection during the sexual assaults.
