Rape at JU: Campus became hotspot for key accused's drug business, Rab says

Mamunur Rashid Mamun, a key accused in the rape incident at Jahangirnagar University, is a drug trader and the campus became a hotspot for his illegal business, Rapid Action Battalion said today.

He maintained good relations with some "senior students" of the university and used to supply yaba tablets at the campus and its surrounding areas since 2017.

Rab today revealed the information a day after arresting Mamun and Murad Hossain, an abettor in the rape and an assistant secretary of JU unit Chhatra League, from Dhaka and Naogaon respectively.

Using his network, Mamun became acquainted with JU BCL leader Mostafizur Rahman, 28, the prime accused in the case, said Rab's Legal and Media Wing Director Commander Khandaker Al Moin during a press briefing at the Rab media centre in Karwan Bazar.

The Rab official said Mamun, as per Mostafizur's demand, masterminded the plan to take a woman to the campus where he and Mostafizur raped her after confining her husband in a residential hall on Saturday night.

"It's not the first time that Mamun brought a woman to the campus. To meet the demand of some senior students, he used to bring both women and drugs to the campus. This time, he targeted this victim," Moin said.

The Rab official said Mamun has been involved in the drugs trade for about six-seven years. He used to collect about 7,000 to 8,000 yaba tablets every month from Teknaf in Cox's Bazar and sell those to JU students and others in the surrounding areas, he added.

He became close with several "senior students", including Mostafizur, and sometimes spent nights at the hall and consumed drugs with other students.

Mamun and the victim's husband had known each other for the past three-four years as they lived in the same area.

According to Mamun, he had at times employed the victim's husband to supply drugs to the university and nearby areas, the Rab official said.On Saturday, Mamun called the victim's husband and asked him to meet at JU as he would introduce him to Mostafizur.

Mamun then tricked the husband into calling his wife to the campus, in the guise of bringing something from their home, the Rab official said.

Around 9:00pm, the victim came in front of a residential hall with the clothes. Mostafizur and Mamun asked Murad to take the victim's husband to the hall and confined him there.

Mamun and Mostafizur took the victim to a secluded place next to the hall and raped the victim and then told her to go home, Rab official Moin said.

Later, the victim's husband filed a case against six people, including Mostafizur and Mamun, with Ashulia Police Station, over the rape incident.

The Rab official said Mamun came to Jurain area of ​​Dhaka about 20 years ago and took a job as a garment worker. Later, he came to Ashulia area and joined another garment factory as a worker. He got engaged with drug trading since then.

Later, he quit his garment job and was exclusively engaged in drug peddling since 2017.

There are eight narcotics-related cases against him at different police stations of the country and he served jail several times in these cases.

Meanwhile, Murad claimed he was unaware of the plan of raping the woman.

He only confined the victim's husband as his senior Mostafizur instructed, the Rab official said quoiting Murad.

Although the room was allotted to him, he did not stay there as it was used as a guest room, the Rab official quoted Murad as saying.