Meanwhile, Tanore BNP vice president and Chanduria Union Parishad Chairman Mofiz Uddin, one of the key accused in the case, is still on the run from police while his men are reportedly pressing the victim's family to withdraw the case.

Nurul Amin, officer-in-charge of Tanore Police Station, said Mofiz went into hiding since two of the four accused were held on December 16.

Mofiz, calling The Daily Star from hiding yesterday said that he was staying in Dhaka and will soon return to Tanore as he had got bail from a High Court bench on Monday.

Four people, Mofiz Uddin, his accomplices Omar and Yaad and the then Soronjai UP chairman Mozid Mollah allegedly raped a 19-year-old woman in Tanore in April 1988.