Kushtia teacher's accomplice held

Alimuzzaman Tutul

Detective Branch of police yesterday arrested another person in connection with the sexual abuse of several schoolgirls of Kushtia, and for disseminating the obscene video clips on the Internet and mobile phones that were shot during the illicit acts.
The arrestee, Alimuzzaman Tutul, is the deputy chief engineer of Islamic University in Kushtia.
Tutul was arrested from a house under Iswardi upazila town in Pabna around 2:30am, and was later brought to Kushtia for interrogation, said Abul Kalam Azad, officer-in-charge of the DB in Kushtia.
A Kushtia court yesterday sent Tutul, after he was produced before it, to jail as he confessed to his crimes before the court.
Tutul, hailing from Haripur village in Kushtia Sadar upazila, is also a member secretary of Durniti Protirodh Citizen Committee of the district unit, a platform initiated by the Anti-Corruption Commission to raise people's voices against corruption.
Tutul also got the best social worker award for Khulna division last year.
Earlier, police arrested the main accused Helal Uddin Panna, an assistant teacher of Adrasha High School in Kushtia district town, from the capital on Saturday.
Panna along with six of his associates had sexually abused several schoolgirls, who used to come to his house for private tuition.
The culprits not only videoed the illicit acts through hidden cameras but also spread those video clips through Internet and mobile phones.
On July 8, police arrested Engineer Hasanuzzamn, one of the accused in this case, from Bagerhat.
Monirul Islam Mono, a Jubo League activist of Kushtia unit, was also arrested in this connection in Jessore on August 1.
A total of 26 video clips have so far been released.
People erupted in protests after the incident came to light in July.
Different organisations have demanded the immediate arrest of the culprits.
Locals, including students, blocked the Kushtia-Rajshahi highway before Adarsha High School in the town for three consecutive days from July 7 to July 9.
On July 7, Sub-Inspector Monirul Islam of Kushtia Model Police Station filed a case accusing four people, including Helal Uddin Panna, Alimuzzaman Tutul, Sariful Islam Sajal, and Monirul Islam Mono, of involvement in the crime under the Pornography Control Act 2012.
Two more characters seen in the video clips -- Engineer Dulal Hossain of the LGED in Jessore, and Hasanuzzaman of the LGED in Bagerhat -- were excluded from the case.
Mofiz Uddin Ahmed, superintendent of police in Kushtia, however, told this correspondent that the names of the two culprits had later been included in the case.
All the arrestees and accused have temporarily been suspended from their jobs.
Separate enquiry committees initiated by the institutions concerned are also working to probe into the matter.