Arrest of 5 Bangladeshis: 2 suffer bullet wounds during escape attempt

Two of the Bangladeshis arrested in India on charges of raping and assaulting a woman were shot in the leg during what Indian officials said was their attempt to flee yesterday.

Around 5:00am local time, police took four of the five Bangladeshi arrestees to the crime scene in K Channasandra, Bengaluru, to "reconstruct the sequence of events relating to the crime", reports our correspondent in New Delhi, quoting Shranappa SD, deputy commissioner of police (Bengaluru East), as saying.

During an inspection of the crime scene at a house in Karegowda Layout, suspects Ridoy Babu, 25, and Sagar, 23, tried to attack the policemen and flee, prompting the law enforcers to shoot them, reports Indian newspaper The Hindu, adding that both the suspects were shot in the leg and apprehended.

They are now being treated at a government hospital, it said.

Efforts are on to track down the victim who is said to be a 22-year-old Bangladeshi woman currently staying in another Indian state, the newspaper said.

A special team has been sent to track her down and bring her to Bengaluru. Once she is back, her statement will be recorded by a magistrate.

A 3:45 minute video clip of four men and a woman torturing and sexually abusing the 22-year-old woman has been doing the rounds on social media for the last few days.

Bengaluru police in a statement on Thursday said that on the basis of the video clip and the questioning of the accused, a case has been registered under charges of rape, assault and other provisions with Ramamurthynagar Police Station.

Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai yesterday told reporters that the victim's name has not been mentioned on the first information report (FIR), adding that the state police has submitted the information to a local court. He added that a probe has been ordered by the state government "without any interference".

Kamal Pant, commissioner of police in Bengaluru city, on his official Twitter handle wrote, "The victim who is also a Bangladeshi was brought to India for trafficking and was tortured and brutalised due to a financial matter."

The other two men were identified as Mohammed Baba Sheikh and Hakeel. The identity of the female suspect has not been confirmed.

Police in Dhaka said they identified the victim and one of the perpetrators as Bangladeshi and that Bangladesh police were yet to be officially informed of the arrests.

Mohiul Islam, assistant inspector general of National Central Bureau (NCB), yesterday said, "The NCB, which is linked to the Interpol, tries to bring back the accused from abroad by maintaining communication with its counterpart. However, the Delhi NCB has not officially informed us about the arrests. We have contacted them and started the process of bringing them back to the country."

Deputy Commissioner Md Shahidullah of Tejgaon division said a case under the human trafficking act and the pornography act has been filed against Ridoy and several unnamed others with Hatirjheel Police Station.

It initially seems like the suspects are part of an organised human trafficking ring, he said, adding that police would investigate whether the suspects and the victim entered India illegally.