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Two police officers and the sister of notorious accused Raja alias ‘Pichchi Raja’ have been arrested over his escape from a prison van, police said on Monday.
Investigators have found that Raja did not escape in Gazipur as initially believed. Instead, he allegedly fled from the Tantibazar area of Dhaka in a waiting private car with the involvement of police personnel.
Gazipur Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mohammad Israel Howlader disclosed the findings at a press briefing at the police headquarters on Monday afternoon.
According to the commissioner, a prison van carrying 29 inmates left the Dhaka District and Sessions Judge’s Court under a police escort and stopped near Popular Diagnostic Centre in Tantibazar.
At that point, escort team leader Sub-Inspector Probir Kumar took the prison van keys from driver Naik Kamal Hossain and brought Raja and another detainee, Khairul Bashar, out of the van to its front section.
Bashar sat beside the driver, while Raja and SI Probir did not get back into the van. Instead, police said Raja fled in a private car that was waiting nearby.
The commissioner said SI Probir later returned to the reported scene at around 8:30pm, boarded the prison van and allegedly staged the incident described in the case statement with other members of the escort team.
Based on witness statements, other evidence and materials collected during the investigation, police arrested Raja’s sister Taslima, escort team leader SI Probir Kumar and driver Naik Kamal Hossain.
Police also recovered Tk60,000 in cash from Kamal Hossain’s house, the commissioner said.
Meanwhile, police have failed to recapture Raja, 30, eight days after he escaped while being taken to Kashimpur Jail in Gazipur.
A departmental case has been filed against five police personnel who were responsible for escorting him. Two of them were arrested on Saturday on allegations of helping Raja escape, while the remaining three are also under surveillance, police said.
