UNB, Dhaka :Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) made a headway in the sensational Brac Bank robbery incident in Joypurhat arresting seven people, including its two masterminds and recovering Tk 56 lakh from their possession.The two arrested masterminds of the bank robbery are Raja Mia, 45, a bank vault breaking expert, and Manzurul Hasan Shamim, 32.In a daring heist, robbers looted Tk 1.95 crore from the vault of a BRAC Bank branch in Joypurhat district town by breaking open the wall of the vault room on the night of September 26.Elite force RAB started investigation into the matter alongside police. During the investigation, they came to know that Raja Miah was one of the masterminds of the bank robbery, and that he was staying in Sreenagar area of Munshiganj district.According to information, a special team of RAB-11 conducted raid at village Hasharpara under Sreenagar police station at about 10:50 pm on October 8 and arrested Raja Miah. Following the statement of Raja Miah, the RAB team conducted several drives on the same day in Fatullah of Naryanganj and arrested Badal Mallick alias Babla, 49, and another prime suspect Manzurul Hasan Shamim at about 11:45 pm.On October 9, the RAB-11 team conducted another drive in Sabujbagh area of Dhaka city and arrested Anup Chandra Pandit, 21, and Plaban Chandra Pandit at about 12:01 am. Also on October 9, the law enforcers also arrested Swapan Debnath, 40, from village Baula of Fulpur in Mymensingh district at about 2:30 am and MK Quddus Rahman Bulu, 52, from Fatullah Stadium area in Naryangonj at about 3:30 am.Briefing reporters at the RAB HQs on Thursday afternoon, Director (Legal and Media wing) Commander Mufti Mahmud said the arrested duo, Raja Mia and Shamim, were masterminds of the Joypurhat Brac Bank robbery.During interrogation in custody, Raja Miah admitted that he was also involved in looting 250 tolas of gold ornaments from the Kalabagan branch of BRAC Bank in 2002.Though Raja Miah and 20 others were arrested by the police two days after the Kalabagan BRAC Bank gold ornament looting incident, he was released from jail after one and a half year on bail from the court, said the RAB director (Media), adding that Raja was introduced with another mastermind Shamim inside the jail.He said Raja and Shamim rented a house near the BRAC Bank branch in Joypurhat in the name of Bangladesh Poor Development Ltd on September 12, Later, they selected other accomplices for committing the Joypurhat Brac Bank robbery.Commander Mufti Mahmud further said that the closed circuit (CC) camera of the Bank, housed on the second floor of Shajahan Mansion, was disconnected by the gangsters during the robbery committed on September 26 night in between 11:00 pm and 2:30 am.He said, eight people including Raja, Shamim, Bulu and Swapan Debnath directly took part in the robbery.Raja as a vault breaking expert can break any type of vault within 10-15 minutes, the RAB director said “Were trying to arrest the other culprits involved in the incident,” he added.
