Joynal Abedin Khan :
Police claimed that Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Chhatra Shibir had committed daylight robbery in Ashulia for creating anarchy in the country.
They were involved in the daring bank robbery that left eight people dead and over 20 critically injured and it exposed that it was an act of sabotage.
“Weapons used in this robbery are state-of-the-art imported from abroad. Trained forces only can use these weapons. Still now, it seems that they did not go for money. Killing and creation of anarchy were their motive,” said ASM Mahfuzul Haque Nuruzzaman, Deputy Inspector General of Police.
The DIG told the reporters in a press conference at Savar Model Police Station after visiting the crime site in Ashulia on Wednesday morning.
In the broad daylight heist on Tuesdy afternoon, about eight to 10 armed looters stormed into the Kathgora Branch of Bangladesh Commerce Bank (BCB) and shot down seven people, he said.
“The members of different law enforcing agencies claimed that the miscreants were well-trained in robbery and other crimes,” the DIG said. The pro-Jamaat men helped the miscreants flee from the spot, the police official claimed. Law enforcers detained two persons in this connection. They confessed in police custody that they were supporters of Jamaat-Shibir, he said. The arrested persons have been identified as Borhan Uddin, son of Haji Abul Kalam Mridha, hailing from Gopalganj district and Saiful Isalm, activist of Shibir and came from Joypurhat district, the DIG said. Police also further interrogated them and other suspected people, he said. Police will investigate the CCTV of the bank, he added. On the other hand, five BCB officials have been taken into police custody in connection with heist bid at the bank’s Kathgora Bazar branch in Ashulia, said Dipak Chandra Saha, Officer-in-Charge (investigation) of Ashulia Police Station.
Police also detained 35-year-old Md Sohel, a security guard, in this connection on Wednesday morning, he said.
Sohel was held as he left the bank for home half an hour before the robbers arrived, the OC said. In the meantime, two cases have been filed in connection with robbery and killing in Ashulia, said Mostafa Kamal, Officer-in-Charge of Ashulia thana.
He said that a senior officer of the bank Faridul Islam filed a case and ASI of same thana Zakaria Hossain filed another case.
In the first case, allegations of killing seven people and looting of Tk 6,87,193 were brought against two arrested dacoits Saiful and Borhan Uddin and eight to 10 unnamed persons in the case, the police official said. Zakaria Hossain, complainant in another case, said that 200 to 300 unnamed villagers were accused of beating a robber to death, the OC said. Six probe committees already have been formed with order to submit reports in a short time, said Khandaker Golam Farooq, Additional DIG (Dhaka Range).
The bodies were handed over to the families of the victims after postmortem at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) in the morning, DMCH sources said. A day after the Ashulia bank robbery, Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Atiur Rahman wrote a letter to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), urging him to ensure security of all the branches of the banks across the country.
All the bank branches should be given additional protection to prevent the reoccurrence of a similar event, the governor wrote to IGP AKM Shahidul Hoque. Dr Ataur Rahman gave the instruction after his arrival at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Wednesday morning.
Families of the victims will be compensated Tk 1 lakh each from the Corporate Social Responsibility fund of Bangladesh Bank, he said.
Meanwhile, the BCB bank authorities closed the activities of the branch. The local businessmen also shut down their shops in protest against the horrified incident.
The victim branch manager Waliullah’s family will be compensated with around Tk 10 lakh, Abu Sadek Md Sohel, Managing Director of the Bangladesh Commerce Bank, said. He also said those who died or sustained injuries in the incident would be compensated by the bank.
