The Human Rights Forum Bangladesh (HRFB), a platform of 20 rights and development organisations, yesterday called for the cancellation of the National Human Rights Commission report that failed to find a correlation between the Subarnachar rape incident and the December 30 polls.

Terming the failure “mysterious” and “suicidal” for the commission, the forum also demanded that the commission's chairman accepts the failure and makes an apology in this regard.

Meanwhile, Officer-in-Charge of Noakhali's Char Jabbar Police Station Md Nizam Uddin has been withdrawn for “negligence in duty” over the rape incident, reports our district correspondent.

Elias Sharif, superintendent of police (SP) in Noakhali, said Nizam was withdrawn and attached to the district's police lines on Tuesday night following the instruction of Deputy Inspector General of Police (Chattogram Range) Khandaker Golam Faruq.

The SP also said Shahed Uddin, who was serving as inspector (investigation) of Shudharam Model Police Station, was posted as officer-in-charge of Char Jabbar Police Station.

The victim, a housewife and mother of four, has been alleging that 10 to 12 accomplices of Ruhul Amin, a former member of Char Jubilee Union Parishad, raped her for voting for the “sheaf of paddy”, the electoral symbol of the BNP, in the wee hours of December 31.

Ruhul, who had been the publicity affairs secretary of Subarnachar Awami League, was sacked by the party following his arrest in connection with the police case filed over the incident.

However, an NHRC fact-finding committee did not find any link between the election and the gang rape.

Evidence of raping, severely beating the victim and inflicting grievous injuries on her has been found, read the report published on the NHRC website.

“However, no link between the beating and raping and the 11th parliamentary polls were found during investigation,” it said.

The incident took place as a sequel to previous enmity with the accused as cited in the statement of the case filed by the victim's husband, it added.

In a statement yesterday, the HRFB said, “Such a report by the National Human Rights Commission has utterly surprised us.”

The victim's statement in media reports and facts found by some of the HRFB members tell a different story of the incident, it said.

Ain o Salish Kendra, also a member organisation of the HRFB, has found that, alongside previous enmity, the election had a correlation with the rape incident, it added.

Another HRFB member organisation, Nijera Kori, learnt from the victim, her husband and locals that she was attacked on instruction of the accused as revenge for not voting for the “boat”, the Awami League's electoral symbol, the statement further said.

After the police case was filed, the complainant, the victim's husband, claimed to have told police that accomplices of Ruhul raped his wife as she voted for the “sheaf of paddy”.

Some of Ruhul's accomplices had allegedly asked her to vote for “boat”. As she did not comply, an altercation ensued and they threatened her with “dire consequences”, he alleged.

The husband told The Daily Star on January 1 that police wrote the first information report (FIR) and asked him to sign it. “I am illiterate ... I could not read what was written on it. I just signed it.”

“The [NHRC] report has failed to unearth the truth,” said the HRFB statement.

It urged the government to form a joint probe committee comprising civil society representatives and relevant institutions.

The forum also demanded action based on investigation against those who prepared and approved the report.

“It is imperative to ensure fair probe into the incident and justice, to prevent its [such incident's] recurrence during polls,” said the statement. 

Three more accused were arrested yesterday in connection with the latest “gang rape” of a mother of six in Noakhali's Subarnachar upazila on Sunday.

The arrestees are Arman, Ramnobel and Raihan, said Dipak Jyoti Khisha, additional superintendent of Noakhali district police.

With them, so far five accused in the case have been arrested.

Meanwhile, police yesterday placed the two other accused -- Abul Basher and Yousuf Majhi -- before the Noakhali Cognisance Court-2 with a seven-day remand plea. Judge Masfiqul Haque ordered to send the duo to jail and fix today for hearing the remand petition.

Resident Medical Officer of Noakhali General Hospital Syed Mohiuddin Abdul Azim said the victim underwent all the required medical tests.

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'Gang rape' again at Subarnachar

It may take some time to prepare the final reports, he added.

The woman, aged about 48, was allegedly gang-raped in Noakhali's Subarnachar upazila on Sunday evening over “campaigning for an upazila vice chairman candidate”.

The incident happened barely three months after a mother of four was gang-raped by 10-12 people in the same area allegedly for voting for “sheaf of paddy” in the December 30 national election.

The High Court yesterday withdrew its order for a one year bail to former Awami League leader Ruhul Amin who allegedly instructed the rape of a woman at Subarnachar upazila in Noakhali on December 30.

The bench of Justice Mamnoon Rahman and Justice SM Kuddus Zaman withdrew the order of the bail as Ruhul suppressed the fact that some other accused in the case had given confessional statements to the lower court against him.

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Subarnachar Rape: The man 'who ordered it' gets 1-yr bail

In the confessional statements, the other accused said the incident of rape took place as per the instruction of Ruhul. But this information was not mentioned in the bail petition filed by Ruhul, former publicity affairs secretary of Subarnachar AL unit.

The judges yesterday sat in their private chamber and passed the withdrawal order after Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Biswojit Roy informed them about the suppression of the fact on Thursday.

DAG Roy and DAG Amit Talukdar were present at the chamber when the bench withdrew the bail order but Ruhul's lawyer Asheke Rasul was not present there.

Advocate Rasul could not be reached over phone after repeated attempts.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told reporters at his office that the way Ruhul secured bail from the HC was tantamount to a fraud upon the court.

“We will bring this issue to the chief justice's notice,” he added.

He also said his office would pray to the HC bench concerned to issue a contempt of court rule against Ruhul's lawyer and would submit an application to the Bangladesh Bar Council for taking action against Rasul if it was necessary.

On March 18, the same HC bench granted a one-year bail to Ruhul. But he is yet to get release from jail, Supreme Court Special Officer Mohammad Saifur Rahman said.

He also said the HC bench would pass further order on March 25.

On December 30 last year, a mother of four was gang-raped allegedly by 10 to 12 Awami League leaders for casting ballot for “sheaf of paddy”, electoral symbol of the BNP, according to the victim.

The victim's husband filed a case accusing nine with Charjabbar Police Station under Women and Children Repression Prevention Act. Ruhul, however, was not made an accused in it. Police held Ruhul four days after the incident.

Later, the husband claimed to the National Human Rights Commission that the First Information Report of the criminal case was not written by him as he is illiterate and his complaint was altered by those who wrote it for him. 

A man, who allegedly raped a madrasa student inside a car on Sunday, was killed in a “gunfight” with police in Chattogram's Mariner's Road area early yesterday.

Police said they arrested another suspect over the rape in city's DC Road area hours before the “shootout”.

The dead Md Shahabuddin, 23, was a resident of Kutubdia upazila in Cox's Bazar while the arrestee Shaymol Dey, 30, is from Rangunia upazila of Chattogram.

Both of them were car drivers.

Police claimed to have recovered a firearm and four cartridges from the spot, said police.

On the day of the rape, the two forcibly picked up the girl, who was going to attend her classes, in a private car from in front of Jamal Khan PDB officer quarters around 10:30am, said Mehedi Hasan, deputy commissioner (DC) of Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP) South Division.

The miscreants were able to carry out the crime in broad daylight as the car had tinted windows and they played music with high volume so as not to get noticed, he added.

Later, they dropped her off at Goni Bakery intersection.

They pretended to have recorded the whole incident on one of their mobile phones and threatened the girl of releasing the video clip if she told anyone, the DC said.

Inspector Kamruzzaman of Kotwali Police Station, who led the drive to arrest Shaymol, said, “On Monday, Shahabuddin called the girl again and asked her to come to their designated place threatening to release the clip if she had acted otherwise.”

“Following the phone call, the victim lodged a complaint with the police and the investigation began,” said the Inspector.

Police set a trap on Monday evening to arrest the two in city's Didar Market area where Shahabuddin and one of his cohorts, other than Shyamol, were waiting in a car for the girl.

As soon as the girl arrived at the spot around 6:30pm (as part of the plan), Shahabuddin picked her up inside the car drove towards Chawkbazar area.

Although the police had a plan to catch Shahabuddin red handed, but they could not.

After an hour-long chase, the miscreants left the car, along with the girl, at Jahur Hawkers market area and escaped.

Later, police arrested Shyamol around 10:30pm by identifying his car, which was used in the rape incident on Sunday, through CCTV footage.

Based on his information, police went to arrest Shahabuddin in city's Fishery Ghat area.

The “gunfight” ensued around 3:30am when Shahabuddin and his cohorts opened fire on police, forcing them to retaliate.

Kamruzaman also said Shahabuddin “raped” another girl before in the same manner but that did not come to light because of her silence.

DC Mehedi said police had information that there was a syndicate of drivers who were involved with various crimes including kidnapping and rape.

Police are trying to arrest them, he added.

The victim was sent to Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH)'s One Stop Crisis Centre while the body was sent to the medical college's morgue for autopsy.

Police also claimed to have seized the two cars used in the crimes.