One of the two police probe bodies, formed to investigate the incident of a schoolgirl who was recently recovered in good health after having been presumed abducted, raped and murdered, has claimed the involvement of the suspects.
The three-member probe committee, led by ASP (DB) Jayed Parvej Chowdhury, which is also investigating allegations of police forcibly recording confessional statements from the three suspects accused in the incident, was interacting with the press in Narayanganj on Wednesday.
ASP (DB) Jayed Parvej Chowdhury said: “During primary investigation we found that Abdullah and Rakib – two of the three suspects accused in the case filed by the girl’s father on August 6 – did abduct the girl.
“Besides, even if they had lured the 15-year-old minor girl, the law would term this act as one of ‘abduction.’ Again, the girl – in her testimony recorded under Section 22 – also mentioned the two.”
“Now, even if the girl claims that she willingly went away with her boyfriend, this statement will not be counted,” he added.
Earlier on Monday, in a bid to find answers, police formed two probe bodies, with three members each, to inquire into the matter.
The other probe committee is headed by ASP (Crime) Mosharof.
However, the claims of the probe committee directly contradict the information provided by Narayanganj Additional Superintendent of Police (Administration) Mostafizur Rahman, who on Tuesday had said: “The schoolgirl, after getting a call from Abdullah, went to meet him on the evening of July 4.
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“At one point the fifth-grader wanted to have some potato chips and told Abdullah to get some. Abdullah then did go but never returned. Later the schoolgirl contacted her former boyfriend Iqbal Pandit and left ghat number five at the Shitalakhya River. Then the two took shelter in Iqbal's elder brother’s house in Matuail at around 10pm that night.”
Meanwhile, the families of the accused have alleged that the arrestees had been tortured so much by the police officials of Narayanganj Sadar model police station that they were forced to confess to crimes that they did not commit.
They also claimed that they were forced to cough up at least Tk47,000 as bribes to Narayanganj Sadar model police station SI Shamim Hossain, the former investigation officer (IO) of the abduction case, to ensure the well-being of the suspects.
Besides, the schoolgirl’s father on Tuesday told the media that the family wanted to withdraw the case filed against Rakib, Abdullah and Khalilur but were finding it difficult to do so due to legal complications.
ASP (DB) Jayed said: “We have started investigating the matter. The case that was filed on August 6 was an abduction case. Later the two suspects were arrested. The boatman, Khalilur Majhi, was arrested upon information obtained from Abdullah and Rakib.
“The suspects were taken to court to record their confessional statements under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, as per regular process. We looked for discrepancies there but found that the trio had made their statements accordingly.”
“Today was the first day of our investigation. We searched for any lapses in the whole process but couldn’t find anything serious. I think we will need a couple of days more to get to the bottom of it.
“Now our main objective is to talk with Abdullah and Rakib. I am hopeful that this mystery will soon be solved,” he added.
He also stated that the fifth-grader had been sent for medical examination.
The 15-year-old, who had been presumed dead, went missing on July 4.
Following her disappearance, acting on a case filed by the girl’s father on August 4, police arrested the three suspects in connection with the reported abduction.
On August 9, the accused made confessional statements in the courts of Senior Judicial Magistrate Milton Hossain and Judicial Magistrate Ahmed Humayun Kabir.
The trio confessed that they had dumped the teenager’s dead body in the Shitalakhya river after raping and murdering her.
In a surprising turn of events, on Sunday, Iqbal Pandit, the reported husband of the schoolgirl, called her family and informed them that she was alive and living with him.
Iqbal also asked for some money from the girl’s parents to pay his rent.
He, along with the schoolgirl, was detained shortly after by the police.
After being questioned by the police, the girl said she had taken off with her then boyfriend Iqbal Pandit to marry him and had remained absconding since then.
The prime suspect in the abduction case, Abdullah, with whom she was last seen on July 4, had, however, no knowledge of her intentions on the day, proving him innocent along with the two other suspects.
Earlier, following the arrests of the three suspects, SI Shamim claimed that the schoolgirl had been murdered and her body was dumped into the Shitalakhya River by the suspects.
