Two arrested over headteacher’s death in mugging near parliament
RAB also recovered the motorcycle allegedly used in the mugging.
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has arrested two people, including the suspected mastermind, over the death of a primary school headteacher who fell from a rickshaw and died after muggers pulled her bag near parliament in Dhaka.
The arrestees are Mohammad Mosharaf Hossain Poni alias Poni Gazi alias Para Poni and his associate Sedrick. Poni is a professional mugger and has 13 cases filed against him, according to RAB.
A RAB-2 team arrested the two from East Tejturi Bazar in the capital's Tejgaon area early today (30 August). It also recovered a Yamaha R15 motorcycle allegedly used in the mugging.
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At a briefing at RAB-2 headquarters in Basila yesterday afternoon, Additional DIG Naimul Hasan, commander of the unit, said the two were arrested based on intelligence and technological assistance.
He said Poni had long been involved in robbery, mugging, drug dealing and intimidation in Tejgaon, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar and other areas. He has 13 cases filed with different police stations, he added.
The motorcycle is owned by Rakib, who has been detained for questioning. He informed RAB that Poni had the possession of the motorcycle on the day of the incident and had retained it from 26 August up until Saturday afternoon.
Rakib said that he owns a workshop and Poni is an influential figure from his area. Poni would take the motorcycle by force at different times and threaten him if he refused. RAB will arrest Rakib if his involvement in the incident comes to light, said Naimul.
According to Naimul, Rakib confirmed that Sedrick was sitting on the back of the motorcycle, but it remains unclear whether he or Poni pulled the bag.
However, the physical build of the motorcycle rider seen in CCTV footage matches Poni's, while 15 local sources identified him as the rider, Naimul said. The mobile phones of both arrestees were also active in the area between 2:30am and 4am.
On Saturday morning, Ranjila Parvin, headteacher of Bagbari Girls' Government Primary School in Bogura's Gabtali upazila, was travelling to Farmgate with her husband for medical treatment.
As their rickshaw reached the South Plaza area of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, two muggers on a motorcycle pulled her bag from behind. She fell from the rickshaw, suffering severe head injuries, and was taken to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead.
Her husband, Abdul Matin, filed a murder case with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station against two unidentified muggers.
