4, including security personnel, arrested over robbery posing as RAB personnel in Dhanmondi

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has arrested four people, including a security personnel, on charges of robbing a gold merchant's house posing as members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in Dhanmondi area of the capital.

The arrestees are - a security force member Farhad Bin Mosharraf, 33, Yasin Hasan, 22, Mobasher Ahmed, 23, and Wakil Mahmud, 26, according to DMP.

The incident took place at a house owned by Alankar Niketan Jewelers owner MA Hannan Azad, near the Dhanmondi Branch of Viqarunnisa Noon School & College, in the early hours of Wednesday (26 March), DMP's Dhanmondi Zone Assistant Commissioner (AC) Shah Mostafa Tariquzzaman told The Business Standard.

The victim's nephew, Touhidul Islam Milon, 45, filed a case with the Dhanmondi Model Police Station against 12 people over the incident.

AC Tarikuzzaman said, "CCTV footage of the incident has been collected. In the meantime, some of the absconding robbers have been identified. Work is underway to identify the rest, after which a drive will be launched to arrest them."

In the case statement, plaintiff Tauhidul said his maternal uncle Azad owns a business organisation named Alankar Niketan Jewelers where the plaintiff works as the factory manager.

"My uncle has a house in the alley of Viqarunnesa School in Dhanmondi. There is an office of SM Sourcing on the ground floor of that house. In addition, there is a consultancy office on the 2nd floor, SM Sourcing's offices on the 3rd and 4th floors, and my uncle has a duplex flat on the 5th and 6th floors," he added.

Touhidul alleged that at around 4.40am today, a group of 10-12 members, posing as RAB personnel, arrived at the building's gate in three microbuses and asked the security guards to open the gate.

"We are RAB men. We have a magistrate with us, we will raid this house, open the gate quickly," the robbers, some wearing RAB jackets, are quoted as saying by the plaintiff in the case statement.

When the security guards refused to open the gate and asked the accused to wait till morning, some of the robbers started berating the security guards and threatened to kill them if they did not open the gate. "Some of them climbed over the gate and forced it open."

The case statement alleges that once inside, the robbers tied up the security guard, caretaker, and a car driver.

"Then the accused broke down the gate of the ground floor office and beat up the peon Delwar, and asked him on which floor the owner lived. The robbers beat him up and threatened to kill him and snatched Tk45,100 cash he had.

"Then, after threatening him, the robbers went to the 3rd floor and broke down the gate of the SM Sourcing office. At that time, the office assistants of SM Sourcing, Leon Tony, Imran and Siam, who were on the 4th floor, heard the sound of the gate being broken and came down to the 3rd floor. The robbers then detained them, beat them up, and demanded that they hand over the keys to the office and the landlord's house," reads the case statement.

The robbers forcefully took the keys from the peon and entered the SM Sourcing office on the third floor. From there, they looted Tk35 lakh in cash and vandalised various objects, according to the case statement.

"After that the robbers broke into my uncle's duplex flat on the 5th and 6th floors and stole Tk1.5 lakh in cash, gold earrings, chains and gold worth around Tk4 lakh," alleges Touhidul.

He also alleged that the robbers tried to kidnap his uncle, but their attempts were foiled as a patrol team from Dhanmondi Police Station arrived at the spot and rescued him from the robbers. "At that time, the robbers shot at policemen with guns, injuring several cops."

The robbers were later beaten by an agitated crowd who arrived at the spot following the shooting and handed four of the robbers to the police.