It took law enforcers 17 days to arrest a man over the alleged rape of an indigenous girl, but less than two days to lose him.

Only 43 hours into his arrest, Rafsan Hossain Rubel fled from police custody around 3:30pm yesterday, thanks to negligence of two policemen who had escorted him to a Dhaka court.

Sub-inspector Emran Ul Hasan and Constable Dipak Chandra Poddar were waiting with him on the premises of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's court, police said.

The two cops were suspended for their “negligence in duty”, Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner (media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told The Daily Star.

SI Emran, also investigating officer of the case, and constable Dipak took Rubel to the court in the morning as the accused was supposed to give a confessional statement before a magistrate. 

“When the investigating officer took the suspect to the room of a magistrate, the magistrate asked him to come a little later,” according to a report on DMP news portal.

Rubel was kept in a nearby room from where he fled, it added.

On October 25, an 18-year-old indigenous girl was raped in Uttar Badda area, said Rab after arresting Rubel on Friday evening from Airport Railway Station.

Rab sources said they handed Rubel over to the police on Saturday evening.

The crime-busting force in a press release said Rubel was also involved in extortion, robbery and abduction in Badda and Rampura areas.

The arrestee, during primary interrogation, admitted to the crime, said the Rab.

Fleeing of accused in custody from court is not rare, however.

On November 29, 2015, suspended Sub-inspector Rezaul Karim Patwari of Kafrul Police Station escaped from police custody at a Dhaka court moments after he was denied bail in a case filed for the custodial death of a businessman in 2012.

On February 23, 2014, four accused, all former Chhatra League activists, sneaked out of the courtroom after appearing before a Dhaka court to face trial for the murder of Jahangirnagar University student Zubair Ahmed.

On August 27, 2014, two physicians of Dhaka Medical College Hospital escaped from the dock of a courtroom soon after it rejected their bail in a corruption case.