A young man and a young woman accused of firing several shots from a private car outside Bhanga Highway Police Station in Faridpur have been arrested in Dhaka’s Gulshan area.
A joint team of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and Bhanga police arrested the pair during a late-night operation on Tuesday (15 September). They were subsequently taken to the RAB-1 office.
On Wednesday (16 September) afternoon, police formally showed both individuals as arrested in the case filed by Bhanga police. Investigators then began operations in Dhaka and Munshiganj to recover the firearm allegedly used in the shooting.
The investigating officer, Sub-Inspector Mizanur Rahman, said the two suspects could be sent to jail custody on Thursday afternoon after further questioning, subject to the recovery of the weapon and completion of the necessary procedures.
According to police, the shooting took place at around 11.30pm on 17 August on the Dhaka-Khulna highway in front of Bhanga Highway Police Station. The incident reportedly followed an argument over where a private car had been parked.
Police said a young man and a young woman travelling from Dhaka towards Gopalganj stopped near the highway police station to have tea. Some local people standing by the road reportedly asked the man to move the private car further to the side.
An argument then broke out. According to the case details and accounts from witnesses, the young man returned to the car, took out a pistol and fired several rounds in public before leaving the area with the woman in the vehicle towards the Khulna route.
The gunfire caused panic among people in the vicinity, with people running for safety. Two individuals were reportedly injured amid the ensuing rush.
A video showing the shooting later circulated widely on social media, bringing the incident to wider public attention. Following the circulation of the footage and reports of the incident, police launched an investigation.
On 18 August, Sub-Inspector Prashanta Kumar of Bhanga Police Station filed a case over the shooting. Sub-Inspector Mizanur Rahman was subsequently assigned to investigate the case.
Investigators used technological assistance to trace the suspects, eventually identifying their location in Gulshan, police said. The joint operation by RAB and Bhanga police was then conducted late on Tuesday, leading to their arrest.
The recovery of the firearm has now become a key part of the investigation. Police are conducting searches in Dhaka and Munshiganj while questioning the two suspects. Investigators are seeking to establish where the weapon was kept and recover it as part of the evidence-gathering process.
Sub-Inspector Mizanur Rahman said the suspects were arrested in Gulshan with the help of information technology. He added that police were taking them to different locations in Dhaka and Munshiganj in an effort to recover the firearm allegedly used in the shooting.
If the weapon is recovered, the suspects are expected to be taken back to Bhanga for further questioning. Police said the next steps, including producing them before the court and seeking jail custody, would follow after the investigation-related procedures are completed.
The case centres on an incident that began with a dispute over parking but escalated into gunfire on a busy highway. Investigators are now working to recover the weapon and establish the circumstances surrounding the shooting as they proceed with the case.
