Usually, people seek help when calling National Emergency Service 999. A “thief” in Barishal calling 999, however, makes for an interesting story. Police today said they received a call from a “thief” who wanted to be “saved from a possible mob beating”, as he was stuck inside a shop in Barishal town. Yeasin Khan (41), entered a shop in the AR Khan Bazar area of Sadar Upazila and got stuck inside the shop on Wednesday morning after sensing the presence of people in the market, said Asaduzzaman, officer-in-charge (OC) of Metropolitan Bandar Police Station. Read: Rickshaw puller awarded prize for 999 call to save women in Chattogram The man called 999 for help, fearing that he might be beaten up by the locals if caught, the OC added. When police asked him why he was not coming out of the shop, Yeasin told them that it took him a long time to pack “the stolen goods” and when he was done, it was already morning and people started arriving at the market. “In this condition, if he came out, he would be beaten up by a mob,” said OC Asaduzzaman. Read: Stranded tourists rescued from Kaptai Lake after 999 call Shop owner Jhantu said he didn’t realize that a thief broke into his shop.  Later, police arrested Yeasin, the thief who called 999 National Emergency Service, from the spot after rescuing him from the shop, said the OC.

Police rescued 17 tourists as they lost their way while visiting a hill in Sitakunda of Chattogram early Friday after they called  the national emergency service number 999. Suman Banik, officer-in-charge (OC) of Sitakunda Model Police Station, said a group of 17 tourists came to enjoy a waterfall at the hill in Panthichhila area of Sitakunda and decided to spend the night camping here.  Read: Crack down on syndicates of essential commodities, HC asks govt However, four of them lost their way while walking on the hill. Later, the remaining tourists fell in danger while searching for the four and called on the helpline number 999. Being informed, Sitakunda police rescued them safely at 1:30am from the hill, he added. The OC also said the hill is so inaccessible that no one goes to the area at night usually. "Even if anyone goes there during the day, they have to come back in the daylight."

A  young woman who was rescued after a 999 call filed a rape case on Tuesday against nine people in Cox's Bazar Sadar Police Station. Four of the accused who are named in the case are Eidgaon upazila’s Firoz Ahmed, Russell Uddin, Nurul Islam and Md Sharif. Five are unnamed accused. Cox's Bazar Sadar Police officer-in-Charge (OC) Sheikh Munir Ul Gias said the written statement of the girl was recorded as a case on March 15 at noon. The victim has been sent to the One-Stop Crisis Center (OCC) of Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital for a physical examination. According to the statement, Firoz and Sharif had earlier threatened the 24-year-old woman, and on March 14 abducted her in a microbus from Cox’s Bazar court area. Feroz snatched gold ornaments and cash money from the young woman. They took her to the house of Feroz's relative Fazal Quader in Baharchhara area of the city. There she was raped by Firoz, Sharif and their companions. READ: Teenager gang-raped in N'ganj She said in the statement that her mobile phone was also taken by them. A man named Russell Uddin, claiming himself  to be a police officer, threatened to sue her for human trafficking if she told anyone about the rape. He raped her too. At one stage, the women lost her consciousness due to gang rape when Russell and Sharif dragged her out of the house and fled. Seeing this a person on the street immediately called 999. Later she was rescued by police from the spot. READ: Jamalpur schoolgirl ‘kills self after rape’; Accused youth held The victim has also claimed that Firoz and Russell Uddin are on familiar terms with the police, and questions the role of the police so far in the case. Besides, she has also been pressured for a settlement. However, OC Munir said the names of four accused have been mentioned in the case. Police will launch an operation to nab everyone involved in the incident.

A 16-year-old girl was allegedly raped by five to seven youths whom she asked for directions to reach her grandmother's house in Natore Thursday. Police claimed to arrested five of the youths in the early hours of Friday. The girl left her home in Naldanga upazila on Thursday noon after a fight with her mother, said Munsur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Natore Sadar police station. READ: Rape case accused arrested in Sylhet "However, she lost her way in the Chatni area of Natore Sadar upazila in the evening while going to her grandmother's house. When she asked the accused for help, they took her to a deserted cremation ground and took turns to rape her," the OC said. Locals spotted the girl in the late hours of Thursday and dialled 999. They also handed over to the police five of the youths whom they caught. However, locals said, two other accused managed to escape in the dark. Bangladesh's rape epidemic Sexual assaults on women continue unabated in Bangladesh, despite the government introducing death penalty for rapes last year. A police headquarters report, released recently, said that 26,695 rape cases were filed across the country in the past five years. Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) data shows that 1,018 children were raped last year alone, but only 683 police cases had been filed. Also, 116 survivors were six years old or below. Overall, 1,627 rape cases were reported last year and 53 of the women were killed by the perpetrators while 14 took their own lives, as per the data. However, ASK's data is just the tip of the iceberg, according to aid agencies, who report that most women are too afraid to report rape. In October 2020, the country was rocked by protests after a woman was allegedly attacked and raped in Noakhali. READ: Main accused in a Chandpur rape case evades arrest; 3 held In November last year, Bangladesh introduced capital punishment for rape, following days of protests against sexual violence against women in several cities across the country. But human rights organisations say the move will not solve the country's rape crisis, as the survivors of the heinous crime are often stigmatised in the society.

Indian Border Security Force (BSF) has handed over three Bangladeshi schoolboys, who mistakenly entered India while playing at Shimultali border in Naogaon, to Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) after the schoolboys called the National Emergency Service 999 for help. The schoolboys are Rabiul Islam, 15, Rabiul Alam, 14, and Badshah, 13, all are residents of Dhamoirhat of Naogaon. Read:999 call: Coast Guard rescues 15 stranded fishermen from sea On Monday evening, one of the three boys called 999 and sought help saying that they entered India mistakenly while playing near a river along Shimultali Border in Dhamoirhat and then were detained by BSF, according to the press release of 999. After receiving the call, constable Rubel Rana immediately reported the matter to Dhamoirhat police station and the camp in-charge of BGB's Shimultali border outpost. Read: 999 call: 7 tourists stuck on boat in Kaptai Lake rescued after hours Later, BGB contacted the BSF authorities and BSF handed over the detainees after holding a flag meeting. Naik Subedar Md Shahjahan, camp in-charge of BGB Shimultali border outpost-14, told 999 that three schoolboys were handed over to their families, the release added.

A gang of young men allegedly kidnapped a couple and their baby from the sea beach in Cox's Bazar on Wednesday afternoon, took them to a desolate place and then to a local hotel where three of them raped the woman for hours. The crime came to light early on Thursday morning when the woman dialled 999 and sought help from police, said an officer of Rab-15, Major Mehedi Hasan. "Already we have identified two of the accused and efforts are on to arrest the culprits." In her police complaint, the 22-year-old woman claimed that she came to Cox's Bazar with her husband and their eight-month-old baby on Wednesday morning and checked into a hotel. Read: Mother-daughter gang raped; 2 arrested In the afternoon, the family went out for a stroll on the sea beach. At Laboni point, the woman's husband had an altercation with one of the accused after he accidentally bumped into the latter. What started as a small argument soon snowballed into a major altercation and the young man called his accomplices to the spot. They kidnapped the family in two auto-rickshaws and took them to a desolate place near the golf club where three of them allegedly violated the woman. The woman's ordeal didn't end there. The family was taken to Zia Guest Inn from the golf club area, where the three accused again took turns to rape her for hours. They released her in the early hours of Thursday and allegedly threatened to kill her family if she narrated her ordeal to anyone.

Bangladesh Coast Guard rescued 15 fishermen who had been stranded on a trawler for three days in the Bay of Bengal after receiving a call from the National Emergency Service 999 on Sunday. The trawler with the fishermen was adrift in the sea about 15-20 km south-east of Bhasan Char after an engine failure on Thursday. It sailed from Noakhali’s Hatia on September 20. On Sunday afternoon one of the stranded fishermen named Jewel called 999 for help on the third day of their plight soon after network his mobile got back network. He also informed about their location. The SOS was immediately relayed to the control of the coast guard as well as their team at Bhsan Char, which rushed to rescue the fishermen. Bhasanchar Coast Guard JCO Shafiq, a member of the rescue team, confirmed the rescue operation.. The rescued fishermen were later brought to Bhasan Char, he added.

Police rescued seven tourists, including women and children, as they got stuck in an engine boat in the Kaptai Lake on Thursday night after they had made a call to the national emergency service number 999. Sanzid Ahmed, a resident of Dhaka, along with families and friends went to visit Rangamati and the Kaptai Lake in an engine boat on Thursday. Read: 999 call: TCB goods recovered from AL leader’s house The boat got stuck in a swarm of water hyacinths near Balukhali and the propeller of the boat’s engine broke as the boatman repeatedly tried to restart it. Stuck in the middle of the lake for hours, Sanzid called on the helpline number 999 around 1:30 pm requesting for their rescue. Following the call, a request for a speedy rescue of the tourists was made to the naval police control room and  Rangamati sadar naval police outpost. Then, a team, led by in-charge Inspector of Rangamati naval police Rusel Mia and assistant sub-inspector Nazmul, started a rescue operation. Read: 999 call: 2 arrested after woman raped on truck After a few hours of their efforts, the tourist group was safely rescued from the boat. On September 7, another tourist group of eight people were rescued from the Kaptai Lake after they had sought help through the national emergency service number.

Police on Monday arrested a man as he allegedly cut off his wife’s hair over a family feud in Asa village of Mehendiganj upazila in Barishal.