Crime
Five members of robbery gang arrested in Narayanganj: Police
Police say they have arrested five members of an inter-district robbery gang while they were preparing to rob a power sub-station in Golakandail area under Rupganj upazila of Narayanganj.
Among the five arrested, four are from Chattogram and one is from Cumilla. Police said that all of them are involved with a Chattogram-based robbery gang and there are numerous cases pending against them with different police stations across the country.
According to Sheikh Billal Hossain, Additional Superintendent of Police of Narayanganj district, a 15-member robbery gang was preparing to break into a 400/230kv power sub-station operated under Power Grid of Bangladesh with locally-made weapons on Sunday night.
Read: 5 held while preparing for robbery in Ctg
“Upon receiving the information, police conducted a drive and cordoned off the power sub-station. Although most of the robbers fled, police were able to arrest five of them from the spot. Besides, a truck used in robbery was also seized,” said Billal.
Billal added that a case was filed with Rupganj police station in this regard and the arrestees were produced before the court on Monday.
Demra police rescue woman, suspect she was raped
A 19-year-old woman was sedated and raped in Dhaka’s Demra area on Sunday night, police say.
Demra police said the woman came to visit her elder brother in Kadamtali area some 15 days ago.
On Sunday, she went to the Konapara fair in Demra and met a distant relative and his friend.
“The duo apparently mixed sedatives in soft drink which the young woman drank. Later, they took her to a nearby field where she was raped by multiple people,” Azharul Islam, a Sub-inspector of Demra Police Station, said.
Read: Khulna: Young woman sedated, raped by 4
Md Shafiqur, Officer-in-Charge of Demra Police Station, said that after being informed by the woman about the incident, police rescued and admitted her to the One-Stop Crisis Center of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
“She is under treatment and unwell at the moment. We will take legal action after medical tests and once we get information from her,” he added.
Man arrested for raping minor girl in Kurigram
A 60-year-old man was arrested on charge of violating a minor girl in Phulbari upazila of the district on Friday.
The arrestee is Nazrul Sai, son of late Bogruddin of Pachhim Phulmati village under the upazila.
Locals said the three-year-old girl went to the house of the accused to play with other children like other days on Friday morning.
The accused tactfully took her to his house and raped her, they said.
Read: Youth arrested for raping girl in Manikganj
Hearing screams, neighbours rushed to the spot and rescued her from the clutches of the vicious Nazrul.
Fazlur Rahman, officer-in-charge (OC) of Phulbari police station, said the accused was handed over to police after the detention.
A case under ‘Women and Children Repression and Prevention Act’ was filed against him, he said adding that the accused was sent to jail through a Kurigram court later.
The rape survivor sent to Kurigram Sadar hospital for a medical test, the OC added.
Some Capitol rioters try to profit from their Jan. 6 crimes
Facing prison time and dire personal consequences for storming the U.S. Capitol, some Jan. 6 defendants are trying to profit from their participation in the deadly riot, using it as a platform to drum up cash, promote business endeavors and boost social media profiles.
A Nevada man jailed on riot charges asked his mother to contact publishers for a book he was writing about “the Capitol incident.” A rioter from Washington state helped his father hawk clothes and other merchandise bearing slogans such as “Our House” and images of the Capitol building. A Virginia man released a rap album with riot-themed songs and a cover photograph of him sitting on a police vehicle outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Those actions are sometimes complicating matters for defendants when they face judges at sentencing as prosecutors point to the profit-chasing activities in seeking tougher punishments. The Justice Department, in some instances, is trying to claw back money that rioters have made off the insurrection.
In one case, federal authorities have seized tens of thousands of dollars from a defendant who sold his footage from Jan. 6. In another case, a Florida man’s plea deal allows the U.S. government to collect profits from any book he gets published over the next five years. And prosecutors want a Maine man who raised more than $20,000 from supporters to surrender some of the money because a taxpayer-funded public defender is representing him.
Many rioters have paid a steep personal price for their actions on Jan. 6. At sentencing, rioters often ask for leniency on the grounds that they already have experienced severe consequences for their crimes.
They lost jobs or entire careers. Marriages fell apart. Friends and relatives shunned them or even reported them to the FBI. Strangers have sent them hate mail and online threats. And they have racked up expensive legal bills to defend themselves against federal charges ranging from misdemeanors to serious felonies.
Websites and crowdfunding platforms set up to collect donations for Capitol riot defendants try to portray them as mistreated patriots or even political prisoners.
An anti-vaccine medical doctor who pleaded guilty to illegally entering the Capitol founded a nonprofit that raised more than $430,000 for her legal expenses. The fundraising appeal by Dr. Simone Gold’s group, America’s Frontline Doctors, didn’t mention her guilty plea, prosecutors noted.
Before sentencing Gold to two months behind bars, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper called it “unseemly” that her nonprofit invoked the Capitol riot to raise money that also paid for her salary. Prosecutors said in court papers that it “beggars belief” that she incurred anywhere close to $430,000 in legal costs for her misdemeanor case.
Another rioter, a New Jersey gym owner who punched a police officer during the siege, raised more than $30,000 in online donations for a “Patriot Relief Fund” to cover his mortgage payments and other monthly bills. Prosecutors cited the fund in recommending a fine for Scott Fairlamb, who is serving a prison sentence of more than three years.
“Fairlamb should not be able to ‘capitalize’ on his participation in the Capitol breach in this way,” Justice Department lawyers wrote.
Read: More arrests in Capitol riot as more video reveals brutality
Robert Palmer, a Florida man who attacked police officers at the Capitol, asked a friend to create a crowdfunding campaign for him online after he pleaded guilty. After seeing the campaign to “Help Patriot Rob,” a probation officer calculating a sentencing recommendation for Palmer didn’t give him credit for accepting responsibility for his conduct. Palmer conceded that a post for the campaign falsely portrayed his conduct on Jan. 6. Acceptance of responsibility can help shave months or even years off a sentence.
“When you threw the fire extinguisher and the plank at the police officers, were you acting in self-defense?” asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan.
“No, ma’am, I was not,” Palmer said before the judge sentenced him to more than five years in prison.
A group calling itself the Patriot Freedom Project says it has raised more than $1 million in contributions and paid more than $665,000 in grants and legal fees for families of Capitol riot defendants.
In April, a New Jersey-based foundation associated with the group filed an IRS application for tax-exempt status. As of early August, an IRS database doesn’t list the foundation as a tax-exempt organization. The Hughes Foundation’s IRS application says its funds “principally” will benefit families of Jan. 6 defendants, with about 60% of the donated money going to foundation activities. The rest will cover management and fundraising expenses, including salaries, it adds.
Rioters have found other ways to enrich or promote themselves.
Jeremy Grace, who was sentenced to three weeks in jail for entering the Capitol, tried to profit off his participation by helping his dad sell T-shirts, baseball caps, water bottles, decals and other gear with phrases such as “Our House” and “Back the Blue” and images of the Capitol, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Grace’s “audacity” to sell “Back the Blue” paraphernalia is “especially disturbing” because he watched other rioters confront police officers on Jan. 6. A defense lawyer, however, said Grace didn’t break any laws or earn any profits by helping his father sell the merchandise.
Federal authorities seized more than $62,000 from a bank account belonging to riot defendant John Earle Sullivan, a Utah man who earned more than $90,000 from selling his Jan. 6 video footage to at least six companies. Sullivan’s lawyer argued authorities had no right to seize the money.
Richard “Bigo” Barnett, an Arkansas man photographed propping his feet up on a desk in the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has charged donors $100 for photos of him with his feet on a desk while under house arrest. Defense lawyer Joseph McBride said prosecutors have “zero grounds” to prevent Barnett from raising money for his defense before a December trial date.
“Unlike the government, Mr. Barnett does not have the American Taxpayer footing the bill for his legal case,” McBride wrote in a court filing.
Texas real estate agent Jennifer Leigh Ryan promoted her business on social media during and after the riot, boasting that she was “becoming famous.” In messages sent after Jan. 6, Ryan “contemplated the business she needed to prepare for as a result of the publicity she received from joining the mob at the Capitol,” prosecutors said in court documents.
Prosecutors cited the social media activity of Treniss Evans III in recommending a two-month jail term for the Texas man, who drank a shot of whiskey in a congressional conference room on Jan. 6. Evans has “aggressively exploited” his presence at the Capitol to expand his social media following on Gettr, a social media site founded by a former Trump adviser, prosecutors wrote before Evans’ sentencing, scheduled for this coming Tuesday,
A few rioters are writing books about the mob’s attack or have marketed videos that they shot during the riot.
Read: Capitol riot panel blames Trump for 1/6 'attempted coup'
A unique provision in Adam Johnson’s plea agreement allows the U.S. government to collect profits from any book he gets published over the next five years. Images of Johnson posing for photographs with Pelosi’s podium went viral after the riot. Prosecutors said they insisted on the provision after learning that Johnson intends to write a memoir “of some sort.”
Ronald Sandlin, a Nevada man charged with assaulting officers near doors to the Senate gallery, posted on Facebook that he was “working out a Netflix deal” to sell riot video footage. Later, in a call from jail, Sandlin told his mother that he had met with right-wing author and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza and was in contact with podcaster Joe Rogan. He also asked his mom to contact publishers for the book he was writing about the “Capitol incident,” prosecutors said.
“I hope to turn it into movie,” Sandlin wrote in a March 2021 text message. “I plan on having Leonardo DiCaprio play me,” he wrote, adding a smiley face emoji.
3 ‘drug peddlers’ held in city
Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) members have detained three suspected drug peddlers and seized 1.90 lakh Yaba pills from Jatrabari area of the capital, Rab said on Sunday.
The detainees were Aminul Islam, 26, son of Abdur Rahim of Chattogram, Nurul Islam, 48, son of Syed Shahzada of Bandarban and Hedayet Ullah, 20, son of Abul Kashem of Chattogram district.
Tipped off, a team of Rab-3 conducted a drive in the area and seized the Yaba pills worth Tk 5.70 crore kept inside the fuel tank of a truck Saturday night, said Commander Khandaker Al Moin, director of the Legal and Media Wing of the Rab headquarters while briefing to the reporters.
Later, the elite force detained three people in this connection.
Read: Drug peddler held with yaba pills in Dhaka
Mother, daughter raped for 7 days in Sylhet; 2 held
Police have arrested two people in connection with the rape of a woman and her 15-year-old daughter for seven days in Osmaninagar upazila of Sylhet district.
The arrestees are Matin Miah, manager of Supreme Filling Station of Goaulbazar area of Osmaninagar upazila and Bulbul, 40, owner of Bogura hotel of the same area.
SM Mayeen Uddin, officer-in-charge (OC) of Osmaninagar Police Station, said the mother, hailing from Netrokona district, used to work at the Bogura hotel and lived with her daughter at a rented house beside the hotel at the upazila headquarters.
Read: Female UP member ‘gang-raped’ in Faridpur, one held
The culprits picked up the mother and her daughter and rape them after taking to several places for seven days from June 14 to 20, he said.
Escaping from the hostage of the rapists, the mother filed a complaint accusing the two under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act with the police station on August 04, he said.
The rape survivors are now undergoing treatment at One-Stop-Crisis Centre of Sylhet MAG Osmain Medical College and Hospital, the OC said adding that the arrestees were sent to a court.
Video of Shariatpur schoolgirl's rape released on internet
A schoolgirl was allegedly raped at a birthday party at Mahishar union under Shariatpur’s Vedorganj upazila recently, with a video of the incident released on the internet.
Although the family of the victim has filed a case in this regard, they are worried about getting justice due to threats from the accused.
According to the victim, the accused are her classmates. They raped her at a birthday party and recorded the incident.
“They tried to abuse me sexually by showing that video to me. They uploaded the video online as I didn’t comply with their demands,” the victim said.
Read: 31-yr-old raped by three in Sylhet
The accused are- Arpan Das, 19, son of Ashim Das and Durjoy Das, 19, son of Komal Das from Daspara village under Mahishar union and Mubdi Sarker, 18, son of Moktar Sarder from South Mahishar village.
All of them are students of Sajanpur Islamia High School.
According to the police, Durjoy and Mubdi took the victim to Arpan’s house telling her to attend a birthday party some months ago. There they raped her and recorded the crime in video format. The trio was using the video to take advantage of the girl. When they couldn’t succeed with their plans, they shared the video online.
The victim has been unable to go to her school since then due to fear of social vilification.
The victim filed a case against the three under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act and the Pornography Act on June 5. But police members are yet to arrest the accused. The victim’s family has said that they are receiving threats from the families of the accused as they are influential in the area.
Sub-inspector (SI) of Vedorganj police station and Investigation Officer (IO) of the case Rajib Sutradhar said that the victim’s family has filed a case over charges of rape and making the video viral.
“An investigation is going on and efforts are on to nab the culprits,” said the IO.
RAB arrests serial rapist from Dhaka
Rab has arrested a man accused in a case over raping a schoolgirl at gunpoint in Pirojpur district.
Accused Shamim Hossain Mridha, 32, has been described by law enforcement agencies as a serial rapist.
Shamim, hailing from Pirojpur’s Bhandaria upazila, was arrested on Thursday from Dhaka's Uttara, Rab said.
According to the police, Shamim raped the schoolgirl at gunpoint on June 11. The girl's mother filed a case under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act with Bhandaria police station in this regard following the crime.
Students and teachers from the girl’s school also staged a human chain asking for justice for the survivor.
Members from the Detective Branch of Rab Headquarters and a team of Rab-8 arrested Shamim from the capital. The arrestee has confessed his crime, saying that he raped the girl while she was returning home after exam at her school.
The accused fled the scene after the assault and hid in Dhaka to avoid arrest, according to the case.
He also tried to rape a SSC examinee after breaking in to her house during wee hours on January 26, 2015. He also raped a madrassah-student threatening with a chopper on November 1, 2017.
Shamim also harassed another madrassah-student sexually on October 10, 2021.
He works both as a CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver and a private car driver in Dhaka’s Babubazar and Gabtoli areas. He became a criminal at the age of 16 through consuming and trading drugs and other criminal activities, police said.
He used to hide in various places in the country including Dhaka, Kishoreganj, Barishal and Khulna after raping and harassing girls. He even used to rape girls while he was in hiding.
There are more than 10 rape and drug cases against him at various police stations across the country, including Bhandaria. He was even in jail four or five times, according to police records.
There are also a total of six arrest warrants against him in different police stations.
Rab members have said that a legal proceeding in underway against the arrestee.
Eight Rohingya people held in Feni
Police have arrested eight Rohingya people from a hotel in Feni’s Mohipal area.
The arrestees are—Abdul Mannan, 20, son of Nur Ahammed, Abdus Shukkur, 18, son of Hamid Hasan, Md Jamal Hossain, 22, son of Abul Kalam, Shafi Alam, 25, son of Badi Alam, Mohammad Ilias, 30, son of Abu Sayeed, Enamul Haque, 21, son of Kabir Ahmed, Nabi Hossain, 14, son of Ali Hossain, and Nur Hossain, 18, son of Fazal Ahmed.
All the arrestees are from Kutupalong and Balukhali refugee camps in Ukhia upazila of Cox’s Bazar.
Officer In-charge (Investigation) of Feni Model Police Station Abdur Rahim said that the Rohingya men secretly arrived in Feni from their respective camps in Ukhia some three to four days ago.
“Upon receiving information, a police team raided Goldstar hotel on Friday and arrested the Rohingyas. A case has been filed against the arrestees,” said the OC.
A court sent the Rohingyas to Feni district jail.
“We suspect that the Rohingyas were planning to involve in drugs trading and carry out terrorist activities while staying at Goldstar Hotel,” said Md Nizam Uddin, OC of Feni Model Police Station.
Read: Rohingya teens arrested from airport area with over 6000 pcs Yaba
Ratanpur Steel Mills Group MD held
Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) has detained the managing director of the Ratanpur Steel Re-Rolling Mills (RSRM) Group from the Gulshan area.
Maksudur Rahman is one of the country's top loan defaulters.
Tipped off, a Rab team raided the area of the city around 1am and detained Maksudur, said Imran Khan, ASP (media wing) at Rab HQ.
Maksudur was a wanted criminal, the elite force said.
Read: Corruption in NSU’s land acquisition: HC orders arrest of 4 trustees