Tk16.19cr stolen money recovered
The RAB on Tuesday arrested the mastermind and his accomplice in connection with the burglary at a Kishoreganj branch of Sonali Bank. Thieves dug a tunnel from a house at Balurmath in the Shyampur area of the city and robbed the bank of Tk. 16.40 crore.
The arrested were identified as Habibur Rahman, alias Sohel Rana, 42, the mastermind, and his accomplice Motahar Hossain, alias Idris Ali, 38. They hailed from Patuakhali.
A team of RAB-10 arrested Sohel, alleged to be the key person behind the burglary, that was committed by digging a tunnel from an adjacent building to the vault of the bank, Habibur Rahman, director of the Legal and Media Wing of RAB, said.
The team seized five sacks of looted money from their possession. They rented the house three days ago saying they were businessmen. RAB personnel said they had recovered Tk. 16.19 crore of the stolen amount.
At a press briefing at the RAB headquarters at Uttara in the city, the Director General of RAB, Mokhlesur Rahman, told the media that based on intelligence information a team of RAB-10 conducted a raid at Tanoy Vila, located at Kadamtoli in the Shyampur area, and arrested Sohel and Idris. Most of the stolen money was seized from their possession.
Sohel was a construction worker in a Middle East country. Using his experience, he dug the tunnel with the help of modern equipment and carried out the burglary.
“During preliminary interrogation the prime suspect admitted that he, along with his gang members, decided to carry out the burglary two years back and rented the tin-shed residence near the bank,” the RAB DG said, adding that some bank employees aided them in the crime. The money was stolen from the vault of the bank on Isa Khan Road, in the Rathkhola area in Kishoreganj, during the two-day bank holiday on Friday and Saturday.
The bank’s deputy general manager (DGM), Sheikh Amanuallah, filed a case against unidentified persons with Sadar police station on Monday afternoon. The Kishoreganj Sadar police station officer-in-charge, Abdul Malek, is the investigation officer in the case.
Two bank officials discovered the heist on Sunday afternoon when they entered the second cell of the bank’s vault to get money for transaction. The tunnel was dug to the vault from a building 20 yards away. A narrow alley separates the bank and the building. The tin-roofed house may have been rented out solely for the purpose of burglary.
A total of 17 people, including 12 officials of the bank, were interrogated at Sadar police station on Monday.
Courtesy of The Independent
