Police yet to release footage from vital CCTV camera

Five days have passed, but police have yet to release the CCTV footage of the Suhrawardy Udyan entrance near TSC, the spot where the worst incidents of sexual assault on women reportedly took place during the Pahela Baishakh celebrations.

Police have so far released footage from nine cameras. However, that footage does not include the clips from the number 16 camera.

According to police sources, the number 16 camera was installed to the south of the Udyan gate near TSC. Liton Nandi, president of Chhatra Union's Dhaka University chapter, who along with some of his fellow activists tried to resist the molesters there, said this camera was supposed to cover the spot where the worst incidents took place.

Contacted, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Miah said he was not aware of this particular camera.

"Now that the matter has been brought to my attention, I'll look into it," he told The Daily Star yesterday.

The footage that police have already released shows many incidents of assault on women.

Yet, it took law enforcers five days to admit that women were sexually assaulted.

Police also opened an investigation into the matter, says a press release.

About the investigation, the DMP commissioner said, "We must establish in the court, by means of evidence, that the jostling noticed surrounding a woman in the footage was driven by sexual intentions."

However, the DMP boss on April 15 had claimed no incident or act of molestation had taken place in the area. He had also said a female student had gone to the TSC area along with her friend when a group of students had "stalked" her and another group had protested the incident.

While talking to this correspondent yesterday, he also contradicted the DMP Additional Commissioner Mohammad Ibrahim Fatemi that Sub-Inspector Ashraful Islam was closed as an action against his negligence of duty.

Ashraful is accused of releasing at least two youths who were caught molesting women by Bangladesh Chhatra Union activists on April 14.

A register at Shahbagh police station showed four men were brought in to the station on the day. Two of them were shown to be held on charges of stealing cell phones with no recovery.

"Released by the order of the officer-in-charge (investigation)," read a note written beside one of the names.