Nayeem Ashraf alias Halim another person accused of rape of two university girls at Banani in the city was arrested by police from Louhajang upazila at Munshiganj.
IGP AKM Shahidul Haque confirmed Halim's arrest from Louhajang upazila at 8:45pm Wednesday.
Jayedul Alam Superintendent of Polic Munshiganj said a detective team of Police arrested him from Louhajang with the aid of the local police.
Police has so far failed to find out the source of the influence of Nayeem Ashraf alias Halim or 'Halim Mama.'
Nayeem Ashraf, Ahmed Shafat, son of Apan Jewellers, Shafat's bodyguard Ramzan allegedly raped two invited female guests after a birthday party at the Raintree Hotel in the capital on March 28.
Halim, one of the key suspects in the notorious Banani double rape case, is not who he makes himself out to be. According to sources, Halim has cultivated good relations with influential ruling party leaders. Nobody in the police service ever dares to go against Halim for obvious reasons. He has connections with high media personalities and several top police officers became Halim's trusted contacts. Halim had dubious links with flesh trade in the city, the sources added.
Police have collected photographs of the rape accused Halim posing with several media personalities, senior government and police officials.
Mohammad Abdul Batan, Joint Commissioner (DB) of DMP, said four people, including Ahmed Shafat, his friend, bodyguard and car drive are now on remand.
They will give confessional statements before the court at the end of their remand period. Police say they have found evidence of rape of the two girls in their preliminary investigation, he said.
Shafat confessed to the police during interrogation that he with his friend Halim raped the two girls. Nayeem Ashraf alias Halim is the managing director of eMakers Bangladesh. Halim managed to acquire stakes in sheesha lounges, restaurants and event management firms.
On May 6, two young women filed a case with Banani police against Shafaat Ahmed, 26, Nayeem Ashraf, 30, Sadman Sakif, 24, and Billal, 26, for raping them on March 28 at Raintree Hotel in Banani after a birthday party.
The owners of Apan Jewellers on Wednesday could not produce any valid documents of 498 Kg gold seized from its five outlets to the Customs intelligence officers.
Earlier in the day, three owners of Apon Jewellers appeared before the Customs Intelligence and Investigations Directorate (CIID) three days after being asked to show documents pertaining to the gold seized, Customs intelligence officials said.
Mainul Khan, Director General of CIID, however, gave them five more days till May 23 to submit necessary papers after the owners sought for more time. "If they fail to submit the documents, legal steps will be taken against them," he said.
The CIID is looking into the sources of the gold and diamonds and investigating whether they dodged any taxes.
Among the three owners, Dildar is the father of Shafat Ahmed, who is the prime accused in the Banani rape case.
Two lawyers, on behalf of the owner of the Raintree Hotel, also went to the CIID office and sought more time as "the hotel owner is sick and failed to appear before it."
