‘Robbers first land jobs to find security flaws, then strike’

Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) yesterday arrested five members of a gang of robbers for their involvement in stealing around Tk 80 lakh from Gazipur's Kaliakoir on June 7.

The arrestees are Md Riaz (36), Md Sagor Mahmud (40), Md Jalil (40), Ismail Hossain Mamun (45), and Monoronjon Mondol alias Babu (41), said Sarwar-Bin-Quasem, director of legal and media wing of Rab headquarters.

Rab members arrested the five from different areas of Dhaka and recovered Tk 30.68 lakh, 1,100 USD, a private car, three motorbikes, one firearm, 21 rounds of bullets, three passports and 38 mobile phones from their possession.

They were held for their connection with looting Tk 80.22 lakh from a microbus of Incredible Fashion Ltd after shooting one of its employees on June 7, the Rab official said during a briefing at its media centre in Karwan Bazar.

Around four or five months back, arrestees Mamun and Babu conducted a survey of garment factories in Ashulia, Kaliakoir and Gazipur in an attempt to learn about security arrangements, Sarwar said.

The gang members first get jobs in factories to identify loopholes in security arrangements and to learn about their financial transaction methods.

They check which factories pay their salaries in cash, and which ones opt for online banking. They also assess the security situation and check whether the security guards are armed.

The gang targeted Incredible Fashions Ltd since it pays wages in cash and has no armed security guard to carry the cash from bank to factory.

Babu joined the factory as an assistant to the sub-contractor in the second week of March and started gathering information from workers, guards and nearby shops.

In primary interrogation, the gang members also revealed their earlier plans to loot in April and May were foiled since the factory switched to mobile banking service to pay their employees.

They attempted again in June after the factory decided to revert to cash. All other gang members conducted reconnaissance missions around the area for 12 to 15 days, Sarwar said.

On the day of the incident, the robbers stopped the microbus near the Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City in Gazipur's Kaliakoir when it was returning from the bank with cash. They looted the money at gunpoint and disappeared from the scene in minutes, the Rab director said.

The factory's General Manager (Production) Md Khorshed Alam filed a case with Kaliakoir Police Station accusing unidentified persons.

"We have learned that those who directly take part in the looting get a share of Tk 8 lakh each and others involved get Tk 5 lakh each," Sarwar added.

A number of cases have been filed against the arrestees with different police stations in Dhaka and Barishal.

"We are now conducting drives to arrest other absconding members of the gang," he added.

The arrestees have been involved in criminal activities for a long time and some members have spent a couple of years abroad.

"We are investigating to check their crime record and previous life history," said Sarwar .