Bogra rape and abduction: Tufan Sarker’s bail cancelled

A Bogra court on Sunday has refused to grant bail to Tufan Sarkar – expelled Jatiya Sramik League leader of Bogra – in the case filed for abducting and raping a female student and torturing her mother back in 2017.

Woman and Child Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge AKM Fazlul Haque passed the order.

Two cases were filed in this connection. Tufan got bail in the case of shaving the heads of both the survivor and her mother after physically assaulting them. 

Special Public Prosecutor Naresh Mukherjee confirmed the matter.

According to the case filed on July 28, 2017, Tufan took the girl to his house in Badurtala of Bogra town, promising to arrange her admission to a local college, and raped her there on July 17, 2017.

When Tufan's wife and her elder sister came to know about the incident, they and some associates picked up the girl and her mother from their house.

They allegedly beat the girl and her mother with sticks and cut their hair. At one stage, the offenders had a barber shave their heads.

Later, two cases were filed in this connection.

Also Read - Bogra rape and torture: Tufan Sarker gets bail

This incident went viral and police, in turn, arrested Tufan and other accused. Tufan and his brother Matin Sarkar were expelled from Juba League after the incident.  

But on January 17, the survivor and her mother – who had filed the case against Tufan – told the court that the accused is innocent and want to drop the charges against him in this regard.

“They testified under duress in the affidavit. There was a misunderstanding,” Prosecutor Naresh said.  

“At the end of the hearing, the court granted him (Tufan) bail.”  Tufan Sarkar was in jail for the torture case, filed with the Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court. 

However, he has been in jail for the last four years for corruption in a case filed by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC). 

According to court sources, the tribunal on February 5 last year, ordered the formation of charges against 10 people, including the main accused Tufan Sarkar.  

When the accused's lawyer appealed, the tribunal rejected the application on February 27 and upheld the order to frame the charge. 

On February 22, 2019, a dual bench of the High Court ordered the disposal of the rape case within six months.  

Other than Tufan, the others accused in the case are - Tufan’s wife Tasmin Rahman Asha, Asha's sister Marija Hasan Rumki, councilor of the municipality, Tufan’s mother-in-law Lovely Rahman Rumi, Tufan’s team member Atiqur Rahman Atiq, Munna, Ali Azam, Mehedi Hasan Rupam, Samiul Haque Shimul, and Emarat Alam Khan Jeetu.

Everyone but Tufan are out on bail in two cases.

Defendant's lawyer Abdul Mannaf and others said their client Tufan Sarkar is in jail for the ACC case. March 7 was set as the date for witness testimonies. 

The court canceled the Tufan’s bail  in the rape case as he plead for time.  

Advocate Abul Kalam Azad, special public prosecutor in Bogra, said that Tufan is in jail in a case filed for acquiring assets worth Tk39 lakh from unknown sources.  

A few days ago, special judge Naresh Chandra Sarkar denied bail in the case.  

However, jailor SM Mohiuddin Haider said that Tufan could not be released from jail as there were 3-4 cases against him including murder.