Police on Thursday said Nayem Ashraf, one of the prime accused in the Banani rape case, has confessed to the allegations of raping two female university students at Raintree hotel in Dhaka being true.
Spokesperson of DMP Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Monirul Islam said Nayem made the confession during the primary investigation at a press briefing at Dhaka Metropolitan Police Media Centre.Abdul Halim alias Nayem Ashraf is a life long con man who was arrested from Munshiganj on Wednesday.
Amid allegations that Nayem will be let off easy as he has high profile connections, DIG Morirul said: “A criminal is a criminal. There is nothing called an influential criminal. If we discover other high profile people's involvement in the crime, we will also take actions against them.”
Also Read: Banani rape case accused driver and bodyguard apprehended
The police hope to take him into 10-day remand.
“We are investigating the case keeping in mind both the Penal Code and the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act. One must understand, the law of the land states that rape is a matter of consent, just because a financial transaction takes place does not mean one cannot be raped.
“Now that we have all of the accused in custody and have their primary confessional statements admitting to the rapes, we will corroborate their story with the plaintiff's,” he added.
Referring to the alleged video footage of the rapes, the DIG said they have yet to recover any files from the accused men's mobile phones.
Speaking on the investigation into the Banani OC's inaction over the case, Joint Commissioner of DMP Krishna Pada Roy said all will be revealed in their report to the court.
“Also we will take legal action against Raintree Hotel under Section 30 of the Penal Code if it is found to have been complacent or complicit during the rape on March 28,” he said.
Also Read: Police confirm authenticity of Banani rape allegations
Nayem Ashraf is the last of the five accused in the rape case to be caught. His cohorts Shafat Ahmed and Shadman Sakif were apprehended in Sylhet on May 12. Shafat’s bodyguard Rahmat Ali and driver Billal Hossain, complicit in the rape, were caught on Monday night.
The two plaintiffs were raped on March 28 at The Raintree Hotel and filed a case on May 6 with Banani police against Shafat Ahmed, Nayem Ashraf, Shadman Sakif, Shafaat’s driver Billal Hossain and bodyguard Rahmat Ali.
Police recorded the case after a 48-hour delay.
The plaintiffs said their rapists had repeatedly threatened and pressured them to withdraw the case.
Shafat is the son of Apan Jewellers’ owner Dildar Ahmed. Nayem is the managing director of eMakers Bangladesh and Shadman Sakif is one of the directors at Regnum Group.
Dildar is being investigated by Customs Intelligence for allegedly being involved with gold smuggling.
Wednesday, March 26, 2025
