Robbers posing as customers looted at least 800 tolas of gold from a jewellery shop at Banani in Dhaka on Friday afternoon.
They held the employees of Hira Jewellers on the first floor of Iqbal Centre at gunpoint during the robbery.
Witnesses said at least seven robbers carrying firearms arrived at Iqbal Centre about 2:30pm. Two of them stood guard while the rest took position at the shop entrances. They then entered the shop one by one.
Gulshan police officer-in-charge Shah Alam quoting witnesses and shop employees said, ‘Seven people entered the shop separately and asked to show them ornaments. The employees showed them the ornaments. The robbers then brought out arms and threatened to open fire and explode bombs, if they cried for help.’
He said the robbers fled by CNG-run three-wheelers.
The owner of Hira Jewellers, Ali Akbar Khan, said the robbers managed to make their escape from such a posh area very easily.
He claimed about 1,000 tolas of gold ornaments was looted from his shop.
Assistant commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Gulshan Zone Ashraful Azim admitted the failure of the police to arrest the robbers. He said, ‘Negligence of police cannot be ignored. Alongside the police, the owner of the shop also failed to ensure security of the shop. All the entrances to the shop were open and all the three close circuit cameras had been out of order for the last three years. It is their negligence also.’
Asharaful said they were on a hunt for the robbers and the looted ornaments.
He also said the police detained seven people including four employees of the shop for interrogation in this connection.
The names of the detained people could not be known immediately.
OC Shah Alam said, ‘An in-depth investigation is required. We suspect that some employees might be involved in the robbery.’
Soon after the robbery, personnel from various intelligence agencies rushed to the spot and talked with several people on the spot.
Filing of a case in this connection was underway.
-With New Age input
