Shafat makes confessional statement

Ahmed Shafat

Banani rape prime accused Ahmed Shafat yesterday “admitted” that he and his friend Nayem Ashraf alias Halim raped the two private university girls in The Raintree Dhaka hotel in Banani.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ahsan Habib recorded Shafat's confessional statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), said court sources.

Shafat's accomplice Shadman Sakif, another accused in the case, also confessed his role in the crime, added the sources.

Ismot Ara Ame, investigation officer of the case, produced Shafat and Sakif before two magistrates after completion of their remand.

Later, the two arrestees were sent to jail.

Meanwhile, police claimed that Nayem, in his primary interrogation, also confessed to his involvement in the rape.

Yesterday, a Dhaka court placed the alleged rapist on a seven-day remand after Ismot Ara produced him before it with a 10-day remand plea.

Invited to Shafat's birthday party on March 28, the two girls went to the hotel around 9:00pm. After the party ended around midnight, Shafat and Nayem raped them in two rooms, alleged one of the two girls who filed the case.

Shafat's driver Billal filmed the rape, Shafat's bodyguard Rahmat Ali intimidated the girls while Sakif, who introduced the girls to the “rapists“ 15 days before the incident, refrained from informing the hotel authorities and the police about the incident, she alleged, adding that all the five accused were “drunk”.

More than a month after the incident, one of the girls surfaced and filed a case with Banani Police Station on May 6. At this, all the five accused fled Dhaka.

On May 11, a joint team of police arrested Shafat, son of Dildar Ahmed Selim, one of the owners of Apan Jewellers, and Sakif in Sylhet. The next day, they were brought to the capital. Later, a Dhaka court put them on a six-day and a five-day remand respectively.

Billal and Rahmat were arrested in two places of the capital on Monday. Nayem was arrested in Munshiganj on Wednesday night.

According to the case statement, the girls were forced to take alcohol before being raped at gunpoint.

NAYEM 'ADMITTED' INVOLVEMENT

At a briefing at the DMP Media Centre yesterday, Monirul Islam, additional commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, claimed during primary interrogation, Nayem admitted his role in the rape.

“The rest of the accused also admitted their involvement in the crime,” he said.

“Primarily, we have found some information on rape. We are now scrutinising them.”

Asked, he said, “It is not the right time to say what actually happened on that day as the investigation is underway... But an incident of rape took place there.”

Replying to another query, Monirul said the victims gave judicial statements before the court and that they were interrogated as well.

Police were verifying the information given by the accused with the statements of the victims, he added.

Monirul said they were yet to recover any video clips related to the incident.

Krishna Pada Roy, DMP's joint commissioner (crime), told the briefing that investigation on negligence by Banani police in dealing with the case had not been over yet.

One of the victims and a number of law enforcers alleged that the accused were able to destroy evidence due to the negligence of some officials of Banani Police Station.

Monirul pointed out that all the five accused were arrested despite rumours that police would not touch them because of their “family influence”. “All are equal in the eye of the law,” he added.