Railway Break-ins
3 investigations find 3 different reasons
Staff Correspondent
Three probe committees that investigated the recent break-ins at Rail Bhaban in Dhaka and a railway office in Chittagong came up with three different conclusions. However, all the reports said no important files went missing.
The probe committee formed by Bangladesh Railway yesterday filed its report saying “organised criminal gangs” took advantage of security guards’ negligence in duty and committed the burglary at Rail Bhaban. The committee formed by the communication ministry said “criminals broke in to search for something valuable but illegal” and it was not a mere theft incident.
The other probe committee investigating the Chittagong railway office break-in said it was “a simple lifting incident”.
Lack of coordination and difference of opinion became more visible after the two committees probing the Rail Bhaban break-in submitted their reports and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Detective Branch (DB) of police made arrests separately.
Bangladesh Railway’s four-member enquiry committee submitted its report saying that organised criminal gang was behind the sensational break-in at Rail Bhaban on January 18.
Committee chief Joint Director General (engineering) of Bangladesh Railway Habib Ahmed handed the 143-page report over to Belayet Hossain, director general of Bangladesh Railway.
It said no official files or important documents were lost in the incident that left 56 rooms of the well-guarded Rail Bhaban ransacked.
The report mentioned that criminals committed the crime for the purpose of theft, Belayet Hossain told The Daily Star. He said the probe report held four security guards responsible for negligence in their duties and outsiders took advantage and carried out the burglary.
On Thursday, the communications ministry probe committee led by Joint Secretary Nasrin Akter submitted its report saying it was not an incident of mere theft.
The report said criminals broke into the office rooms to take away something that was “valuable but illegal”.
Talking to The Daily Star, Nasrin Akter said, “It is sure that the criminals did not ransack 56 rooms just for Tk 92,000, four mobile phones and a laptop.”
The DB of police recently arrested Enamul Huq Khokan with Tk 5,000, a stolen cellphone, a microbus and lock-breaking equipment in his possession.
Meanwhile, the CID arrested the seven railway security guards who were suspended after the break in at Rail Bhaban.
After the arrests, officials of CID and DB told The Daily Star there was no link between the two sets of arrests.
The three-member committee, led by Assistant Transport Officer (ATO) Omar Faruk, after investigating the break in at Divisional Transport Officer’s office in the DRM building of Pahartali in Chittagong submitted its report to the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Friday.
It blamed failure and negligence of two security guards who were on duty on January 18 and recommended them to be punished.
The report observed that since a case was filed with Khulshi Police Station in this connection, the main reason behind the theft could be unearthed through the police investigation.
Courtesy: thedailystar.net
