Robbers take over bus again, ‘assault’ female passengers

Just months after a robbery on a moving bus, in which female passengers were allegedly sexually assaulted, a similar incident occurred on the Dhaka-Tangail highway on Tuesday night.

The incident came to light yesterday after a passenger, Minu Miah from Pirganj in Rangpur, filed a case with the Tangail Sadar Police Station.

According to the case statement, a group of robbers allegedly took control of a passenger bus, looted valuables, and sexually assaulted female passengers.

On February 17, robbers similarly looted a bus and assaulted female passengers on the same highway, triggering nationwide outrage and calls for improved safety on the roads.

In his statement, Minu Miah said he boarded a Rangpur-bound Al Imran Paribahan bus from Dhaka's Abdullahpur at 7:00pm. The journey began at 7:30pm with 10 passengers on board, including him.

Along the way, the bus picked up more passengers from various locations. Around 9:30pm, while stuck in traffic, 7-8 more passengers boarded at the Jamgara bus stand area in Savar. Another 8-10 passengers boarded from the Baipail area.

When the bus, now carrying around 40–45 passengers, reached the garbage dump area under Sreepur Police Station in Gazipur at 11:30pm, 8-10 robbers posing as passengers took control of the vehicle, brandishing knives and machetes.

They tied the driver's hands and feet and moved him to the back of the bus, while one of the robbers took the wheel. When the bus reached Elenga in Tangail at 12:15am, the robbers tied the hands and mouths of the passengers.

The bus then made a U-turn at the eastern Gol Chattar near the Jamuna Bridge and started heading back toward Dhaka, the case statement reads.

The robbers continued driving for several hours, looting gold ornaments, mobile phones, and other valuables from the passengers.

According to the statement, the 2/3 robbers also "sexually assaulted two or three female passengers by touching them inappropriately."

Some of the robbers got off the bus at various points with stolen items. Around 5:30am, the remaining assailants got off in the Shibpur area of Tangail Sadar, taking the rest of the looted goods with them.

"Then locals came to our rescue and called the national emergency service 999 to alert police," said Minu Miah in his statement. Patrol police later brought the bus, passengers, and staff to Tangail Sadar Police Station.

Tangail Sadar Police Station Officer-in-Charge Tanvir Ahmed told The Daily Star that senior district police officials questioned the passengers and staff upon arrival.

Tangail Superintendent of Police Mizanur Rahman said several police teams have already begun working to identify and arrest the robbers.

"Since the robbers are hiding in different areas, it may take some time to catch them," he said.