When Shahnaz Akter Putul was mulling over her scooter being stolen on Tuesday night, she was almost convinced that she would not get it back.
Shahnaz, whose photos and videos went viral on social media platforms, had hardly stopped sobbing ever since a young man stole her scooter around 3pm on Tuesday at Manik Mia Avenue in Dhaka.
But in only about 12 hours, her smile came back when a team of brave policemen recovered her scooter in the early hours of Wednesday.
The scooter was recovered from Raghunathpur in Narayanganj by a team of police from Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station under Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).
The scooter is registered with Uber, a leading multinational ride-sharing service.
The praiseworthy Dhaka police
Police also caught the thief, Md Jobaidul Islam Jony, 27, red-handed with the bike in his possession, said Biplob Kumar Sarker, deputy commissioner (DC) of DMP’s Tejgaon Division.
Jony was later placed on a two-day remand, he said during a press briefing at his office around 1pm on Wednesday.
The law enforcement agency did not just stop at recovering Shahnaz’s scooter; they also handed over Tk10,000 in cash to Shahnaz as a goodwill gesture.
Biplob said: "Our team started investigating the theft immediately after Shahnaz filed a general diary (GD) at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station. We wanted to recover her scooter as soon as we could as this is her primary source of income; her family depends upon it.
"We used advanced technology to locate the scooter and identify the thief.”
He further said: "The thief himself is a ride-sharing biker who has been stealing motorbikes and scooters for quite some time now. Necessary steps will be taken against him after further investigation is done."
He went on: “In some cases, our operations take lot of time, and in some, we even fail. But in this very incident, we recovered the scooter within just 10 and a half hours.”
What happened
Shahnaz, a Mirpur 11 resident and a mother of two, said she became familiar with Jony, who is from Barisal, a few days ago.
He lured her with a job and went on a ride with her on Tuesday, visiting several places of the city.
“We stopped near a tea stall in Khamarbari area around 3pm on Tuesday. He then asked me how I had gotten into the ride-sharing service.
“Then, all of a sudden, he fled with my scooter.”
All Shahnaz was left with was just her helmet.
“I chased after him as he rode my scooter away, but all went in vain. When I called him, he verbally abused me,” she said.
Shahnaz became a social media sensation for her struggle and determination to provide for her family by offering ride-sharing services.
Recounting her feelings after the incident, she said: “With the helmet on, I just felt like riding my scooter. For me, it is not only a mode of transport; it is the means through which I earn my livelihood.”
With tears in her eyes, Shahnaz expressed her gratitude to the media and police for helping her find her scooter. She also urged the police and media to come forward for others the same way they did for her.
