A Sylhet court on Monday placed M Saifur Rahman, Arjun Laskar and Robiul Islam on remand -- three of the six named accused -- over the case filed in relation to the gang rape of a woman on the hostel premises of Murari Chand (MC) College.
The court of Metropolitan Magistrate Saifur Rahman granted a five-day remand each for Saifur, Arjun and Robiul after police sought a seven-day remand for each of them.
Assistant Police Commissioner Amulla Kumar Chowdhury confirmed the matter to Dhaka Tribune.
Speaking to the media, Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) Khokon Kumar Dutta, the state lawyer for the case, said: "There were no lawyers for the accused in court. All three of them pleaded guilty during the remand hearing."
Key accused Saifur was apprehended from the bordering area of Chhatak in the northeastern district of Sunamganj early on Sunday, while Arjun -- named as the fourth accused in the case -- was detained from a bordering village in Habiganj's Madhabpur upazila on the same day.
Shah Mahbubur Rahman Rony was arrested by the Detective Branch (DB) of police from Quresh Nagar of Habiganj and Robiul was nabbed by a team of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) 9 from Nabiganj in Habiganj. Both of them were apprehended on Sunday night.
Meanwhile, two more -- Rajan and Ainul Islam -- unnamed accused in the gang rape case, have also been held by the police.
Law enforcement officials until now have arrested six suspects in the gang rape incident while the whereabouts of Tareque and Mahfuzur -- two others accused in the case -- remain unknown.
Meanwhile, the probe committee formed by the MC College administration issued a notice on Monday requesting witnesses to the incident to provide their statements on Tuesday. The probe body has seven days to submit its findings.
Leaders and members of Sylhet Bar Association demanded the removal of the college principal for sacking two of its security guards over the incident at a press conference held on the same day.
Besides, they urged the members of the association not to stand in court on behalf of the accused and said that they were ready to extend all possible support to the victim to ensure justice for her.
Protests continue in Sylhet
Nari Mukti Sangsad held a protest at Court Point in Sylhet on Monday afternoon demanding exemplary punishment for those responsible in the MC College gang rape incident.
Besides, a press conference was held under the banner of Sylhet Chhatra Dal on the same day where leaders and activists of the BNP's student wing condemned the incident and demanded the resignation of the MC College principal.
Fazle Rabbi Ahsan, Sylhet city unit Chhatra Dal general secretary, said: "Earlier on Saturday, we tried to bring out a procession in the city demanding justice for the MC College gang rape victim. But the police obstructed us and charged us with batons. This left around 10 of our leaders and activists injured."
A woman was raped allegedly by Chhatra League men on the premises of the hostel of Sylhet's MC College when she was visiting with her husband on Friday night.
Sources said a group of Chhatra League men confined the woman's husband in a room and took the woman to a car, where she was gang-raped.
The victim's husband filed a case with Shah Paran police station in connection with the incident. He filed the case against seven or eight people, naming six.
