Robbers looted valuables and ‘sexually harassed’ female passengers on a Rangpur-bound bus on Dhaka-Tangail-Jamuna Bridge highway late Tuesday night, less than three months after a similar incident in the district.
Tangail Additional Superintendent of Police (Sadar Circle) HM Mahbub Rezwan Siddiqui said a case was filed at the Sadar Police Station by a passenger, Minu Mia, against 8 to 10 unidentified people.
The case also mentioned the incidents of alleged sexual harassment.
Passengers said the robbers looted all valuables from the passengers, including mobile phones, cash and gold ornaments, from 11:30pm Tuesday to 5am on Wednesday on an ‘Al Imran Paribahan’ bus.
A group of 8 to 10 robbers posing as passengers took control of the vehicle at knifepoint after it crossed Elenga.
They blindfolded and tied up the driver, his assistant and other passengers before turning the bus around near the eastern approach to the bridge and heading back toward Dhaka.
They abandoned the bus around 5:30am at Shibpur on Tangail bypass.
Later, on information, police recovered the bus and brought it to Tangail Sadar Police Station.
The bus, carrying 45 passengers, including around 10 women, had departed from Dhaka’s Abdullahpur around 8pm Tuesday.
It picked up more passengers from Narsinghpur, Baipail and Ashulia before heading towards Jamuna Bridge via Elenga in Kalihati upazila.
One passenger, Md Afaz Uddin, said one of the robbers drove the bus while others tied up the passengers.
Another passenger, Jewel Mia, said his eyes and mouth were tied, but he could hear female passengers crying and pleading. “They were harassed during body searches for valuables,” he added.
Driver Atiqur Rahman said, “We couldn’t tell that some of the passengers were robbers. Once we were on the highway, they tied us up and took control of the bus.”
Several police teams, including detectives and Sadar Thana officials, are working to identify and arrest the culprits, ASP Rezwan Siddiqui added.
On February 17, a robbery took place on Dhaka-Rajshahi bus of Unique Road Royals’ ‘Amri Travels’ when two female passengers were allegedly harassed.