A Dhaka court on Monday placed three accused on five-day remand in a case over the death of a schoolteacher who was allegedly pulled from a rickshaw during a mugging near the Parliament.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Siddiq Azad passed the order after hearing a remand petition filed by the investigation officer.
The accused are Md Poni alias Para Poni alias Poni Gazi, the prime accused, Sedrick Julian, 28, and Rakib Hossain, 24.
Police sought their remand to determine their roles in the mugging, identify others involved, recover the stolen belongings and uncover the wider gang behind the crime.
The court granted five days’ remand for each of the three accused after hearing the petition.
Ranjila Parveen, 56, was the headteacher of Bagbari Government Primary Girls’ School in Bogura. She had come to Dhaka with her husband, Md Abdul Matin, for eye treatment.
According to the case documents, the couple were travelling by rickshaw along Manik Mia Avenue towards Islamia Eye Hospital in Farmgate around 5:55am on 29 August when two men on a motorcycle approached from behind and allegedly snatched Ranjila’s hand bag.
As the muggers pulled the bag, she fell onto the road and suffered severe head injuries. The suspects fled with the bag.
The bag contained a feature phone, an Android smartphone, Tk10,000 in cash, a photocopy of her national identity card and medical documents, according to the complaint.
Locals rescued Ranjila and took her to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared her dead.
Police later sought RAB-2’s assistance in arresting the suspects and recovering evidence.
RAB-2 arrested Poni and Sedrick on 30 August based on information gathered during the investigation.
Police said mobile phones and cash were recovered from them.
A blue Yamaha R15 motorcycle allegedly used in the mugging was later recovered from a garage in Tejgaon.
A police report submitted to the court said Poni has several cases against him at different police stations, including cases involving theft, preparation to commit theft and violations of the Narcotics Control Act.
The report also said Rakib Hossain, the third accused, has been named in several general diaries and cases at police stations.
