A NEWS item in the national dailies on Monday reported on a big robbery which occurred at the main branch of Sonali Bank in the Kishoregonj district town . The report said miscreants have looted at least Tk 16 crore in cash from the branch digging a 12 to 15 feet tunnel from a nearby house to the vault room of the bank located in the ground floor of the two storied building pointing to the mysterious way by which it escaped the notice of the people around the bank building because the digging had continued for quite sometime and the earth which was removed from the tunnel and stored somewhere should not go unnoticed. But everything appears to have been done without causing any suspicion in the mind of the general public.
Bank authorities said they had discovered the robbery in the afternoon and called in police. They are now investigating into the incident and looking for the culprits. The building from where the tunnel emanated was a tin shed house rented by a businessman who has absconded since the robbery. The report said police were interrogating bank employees and some local people. The Sonali Bank branch in question was also carrying out the treasury functions for the government. In such branches high levels of security remain on alert around the clock. Where they were in the days when the tunnel was being dug is a big question.
But as we see, this incident reminds us that the swindling of bank money has become a regular phenomenon to lead people to wonder what security measures the bank branches across the country are using to protect depositors’ money. Moreover, why are banks being targeted in urban and rural areas and how can such incidents take place without the involvement of bank staff are questions to ponder. The Hall-Mark or Bismillah Group loan scandals showed that the branch managers were involved in such incidents. Branch managers of Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch of Sonali Bank and a handful of its employees facilitated the swindling of over Tk 36.5 billion by the Hall-Mark Group and others by accepting fictitious business documents. Similar involvement of bank officials of the Kishoregonj branch may not be ruled out. Otherwise it would be difficult for robbers to be aware of the location of the vault, of the money in the cash and such other critical information which they needed to hit the bottom of the vault directly from the tunnel and break into it to remove the cash. Moreover, why there was the delay in detecting the robbery is also unknown.
The problem lies in the political culture of protecting the looters and corrupt ones. So we want to see the persons at the management be punished if looting of banks especially government banks is to be ended.
Besides, Bangladesh Bank cannot remain high and above, but feel accountable for looting and robberies going on in government banks.
