Abu Sabet: A Bangladeshi national has been detained in a US jail for eight months without any attention or legal intervention. The man, identified as Monir Uddin (47), was arrested in April this year by Connecticut state police on charges of sexual assault and transferred to a prison in Maine, where he has remained incarcerated ever since.
Federal immigration authorities confirm that Federal immigration enforcement officers arrested Monir Uddin, 47, as an “unlawfully present” Bangladeshi national, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson John Mohan confirmed this.
Uddin was working at a Litchfield Citgo gas station/convenience store when three 14-year-old girls complained that he kissed them, hugged them, and restrained them in January, state police said. The New York City resident faces state charges that include three counts each of commercial sexual abuse of a minor, illegal sexual contact with a minor, risk of injury to a child, second-degree unlawful restraint, and fourth-degree sexual assault.
“This unlawfully present individual allegedly brought harm to our Connecticut communities by sexually assaulting several children,” Enforcement and Removal Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons said in a news release Tuesday. “ERO Boston will continue to work with our local partners to prioritize the safety of the members of our New England communities.”
“This unlawfully present individual allegedly brought harm to our Connecticut communities by sexually assaulting several children,” Enforcement and Removal Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons said in a news release Tuesday. “ERO Boston will continue to work with our local partners to prioritize the safety of the members of our New England communities.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection admitted Uddin in October 2017 “for the purpose of transiting through the country,” the news release said. He violated terms of his admittance when he remained in the U.S. beyond Nov. 9, according to the agency.
State police arrested Uddin on April 20 and ICE lodged an immigration detainer seeking custody on the same day with the state Department of Correction. Federal agents arrested him on April 22 and he was to remain in ICE custody pending a hearing before an immigration judge.
In the arrest warrant for Uddin, state police say troopers responded to a complaint on Jan. 14 about a store clerk nicknamed “Moon,” who was later identified as Uddin. Troopers interviewed three 14-year-old girls who said Uddin brought them outside to the back of the store, police said. When they tried to reenter the store, however, Uddin blocked the door, the girls told police, then touched and hugged and kissed them, the warrant says.
The girls said they felt “trapped,” police said. One said she tried to get away from Uddin, but he pulled her closer, the warrant says. Uddin made the girls promise not to tell anyone about what happened, then gave them free nicotine vapes before they left, police said.
“They said they were laughing during most of this interaction because they were uncomfortable,” state police said. “They also stated they felt sick immediately after because of what had happened.”
The warrant is heavily redacted, but police said Uddin “had contact with the intimate parts of the three juvenile victims,” that he restrained them and gave them tobacco products in exchange for sexual conduct.
In an interview with police in February, Uddin said the girls’ allegations were not true and that they were trying to frame him because he would not sell them CBD products, police said. He also faces charges of illegal sale of tobacco to a minor.
A Bangladeshi source said that Monir Uddin has been held in a US prison for eight months, but no Bangladeshi organization or community has contacted him.
BP/SM
