Tangail Superintendent of Police (SP) Mizanur Rahman claimed that even though a robbery took place on a moving bus on the Dhaka-Tangail highway en route to Rajshahi, there was no incident of rape.
The SP made the comment during a press conference at his office on Saturday afternoon.
He said that initial findings suggest that incidents of sexual harassment may have occurred.
He further said: "Tangail police have arrested three individuals in connection with the robbery on the moving bus. All three arrestees are active members of an inter-district robbery gang. They were apprehended on Friday night in the Savar area. During the arrest, law enforcement recovered three looted mobile phones, a knife, and Tk29,370."
Providing details from preliminary interrogations, the SP mentioned that the arrested individuals have confessed to their crimes.
He also noted that several others were involved in the incident, and they will be apprehended soon.
"Based on our initial findings, no incident of rape took place on the moving bus. However, incidents of sexual harassment may have occurred while the perpetrators were robbing passengers of their valuables, including gold jewelry and cash," he said.
The SP added: "We have spoken to female passengers on the bus. They have also provided us with their accounts of the incident. Our investigation is ongoing, and we hope to uncover the full details soon."
According to police sources, two of the arrestees, Sabuj and Sharifuzzaman, will give their statements in court.
Meanwhile, the third suspect, Shahidul Islam, will be placed on a five-day remand for further interrogation.
Earlier, three days after the incident, a passenger named Omar Ali filed a case with Mirzapur police station in Tangail on Friday morning.
The case was filed against 8-9 unidentified individuals.
The robbery took place on the Unique Road Royals bus in the early hours of Monday.
The bus departed from Dhaka’s Gabtoli at around 11:30pm on Monday. Around 12:30am, a group of robbers took control of the vehicle at gunpoint, injuring several passengers before starting their looting spree.
The robbery and acts of sexual harassment reportedly continued for nearly three hours as the bus was driven through different locations.
Eventually, the gang stopped the bus in an isolated area of Mirzapur, Tangail, and fled.
