AJR Courier warehouse in Hazaribagh vandalised, looted over alleged rent dispute
The attackers allegedly vandalised the warehouse and office and looted customers’ parcels, valuable equipment, and office belongings.
An AJR Courier Service warehouse and office in Dhaka's Hazaribagh were allegedly attacked, vandalised and looted yesterday (20 October) over an alleged dispute over land rent.
The incident took place at the company's premises near Shikder Medical College around 6:30pm, said Mosharraf Hossain, officer-in-charge (OC) of Hazaribagh Police Station.
Company officials alleged that the attackers threatened them, demanding that rent for the land be paid to Sanjidul Islam Emon, known as a top criminal, instead of the Shikder Group, from which the company had been renting the property.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
The attackers allegedly vandalised the warehouse and office and looted customers' parcels, valuable equipment and office belongings.
According to company officials, AJR Courier Service rented the land from Shikder Group under an agreement around two years ago.
Since then, the company has been operating its warehouse and office there and paying rent to the group in accordance with the agreement.
The attackers allegedly demanded that the company pay rent to Imon from now on and threatened to prevent it from continuing operations otherwise, the officials added.
The officials said goods worth several lakh taka were looted, along with CCTV cameras and the digital video recorder (DVR) used to store surveillance footage. Office furniture and several laptops were also taken.
A group of attackers allegedly entered the premises by climbing over a wall, with many of them wearing masks and helmets, the officials said.
Around 400 vehicles transport goods from the warehouse to different parts of the country every day, according to company officials.
The attack has disrupted operations, affecting the transportation and delivery of goods, they added.
OC Mosharraf Hossain said police went to the scene after receiving information through the national emergency service 999 and brought the situation under control.
Preliminary information suggested that a group had vandalised the office and issued threats using Emon's name, he said.
Police said they were investigating the incident.
