Ex-Chhatra League leader shields “rapist” Safat

Safat Ahmed and his accomplice Sadman Sakif, two accused of raping two girls in a hotel at Banani in Dhaka, were hiding in Sylhet under the protection of former Chhatra League leader Masum Billah.

Police arrested the both accused from Rashid Manzil, UK expatriate one Mamunur Rashid’s house where his mother and a care taker live, at Pathantula in Sylhet on Thursday night.

The care taker Nur Nabi said that Masum Billah, who is known to Mamunur and a resident of Kazir Bazar area in Sylhet, asked him to let Safat and Sakif live in the house.

“They were staying in a room on 1st floor of the house”, he said.

Masum Billah was a leader of Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of ruling Awami League, a reliable source said.

The alleged rapists got his shelter as he has a close relation with Safat’s family, said the source.

Earlier on May 6, one of the two girls filed a case with Banani Police Station accusing five people including three others Nayem Ashraf and Safat’s driver Billal and bodyguard, who was not named in the case.

The victims accused Safat and Nayem of confining them to a room at Banani’s The Raintree hotel and raping them overnight on Mar 28.

They didn’t file case earlier because of death threats from the accused, the victims said.

Safat’s father Dildar Ahmed is an owner of Apan Jewellers, while Sakif’s father Mohammad Hossain Jony is a co-owner of Picasso Restaurant.