​Man escapes jail, tries to mug businessman, lands in jail again

It was 19 July. Chaos had gripped the country as quota reform protests had spread and taken a violent turn by then. For Md Nayan Mia, 44, an inmate in Narsingdi central jail, however, this was a boon in disguise. 

In the afternoon, unidentified people launched an attack on the jail. They broke the gate, looted arms and released hundreds of criminals. Noyon was one of those who jumped at the chance to escape.

Noyon’s newfound freedom was short-lived. 

He had travelled all the way to Kapasia upazila of Gazipur. But within a week after breaking out of prison, he has now been arrested once again in a case filed with the Kapasia Police station over alleged mugging, beating and threatening a local businessman.

Noyon has once again landed in jail, this time in Gazipur, Kapasia Police Station officer-in-charge Md Abu Bakar Mia told The Business Standard on Sunday (28 July).

Hailing from Monohordi thana of Narsingdi, Noyon was already an accused in at least 11 cases, trials of which are ongoing. Of the cases, three are filed under the Arms Act, four over robberies and four more over attempted robberies. 

“After escaping jail, Noyon found members of his old gang and tried to mug a businessman. He was arrested red handed,” OC Abu Bakar said.

Two local machetes and cash were seized from him. He was produced in court and has been sent to jail.”

The plaintiff of the case Md Abdul Kashem said he is a banana trader. On Saturday (27 July), at around 3:00pm, he was waiting for an auto-rickshaw in front of the Ghosherkandi Govt Primary School in Kapasia to visit the local market.

“Out of the blue, four unidentified people, who were hiding in a bush nearby, jumped on me. They started beating me. One of them held a machete to my neck and said, ‘give me everything you have. If you make a fuss or scream, I will cut your head off’,” Kashem wrote in the case statement. 

“One of them took Tk2,000 from my shirt pocket and another took Tk12,000 from my pants pocket. Then they let me go but didn’t leave the spot. They were waiting to mug others,” he added.

According to the case statement, fearing for his life, Kashem then ran away from the scene and screamed for help. A police team was patrolling nearby and heard him. 

After being informed, the police chased the muggers and arrested Noyon. The others got away.

OC Abu Bakar said, “Attempts are ongoing to catch the remaining suspects.”