Dhaka – A suspected burglar gang leader was shot dead during an encounter with Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) when the elite force raided his den to foil a daring burglary bid of Sonali Bank Dhamrai Branch at Dhamrai Bazar, in the outskirt of the capital Dhaka on early Friday.
The anti-crime force also arrested five accomplices of the alleged kingpin identified as Masud, 35. Arrestees included two female members. Rab recovered one pistol, four bullets and a number of various types of equipment from the spot.
Other arrested alleged gangsters have been named as –Sabuj, Badsha Miah, Riazul Islam, Shila and Romana.
The Commanding Officer (CO) of Rab-4 Khandker Lutful Kabir said the gang members rented a flat on the 2nd floor of a 5-storey building at Dhamrai Bazar two months ago. The Dhamrai Branch of Sonali Bank is located on the 1st floor of the building.
The group Rab CO said had marked place at a room of the rented flat, located just above the strong room of the bank, and were planning to take away the money from the strong room of the branch by breaking through its roof.
They had removed tiles of the spotted place around four squire feet and started drilling the floor with different equipment. They have already burrowed half of the marked place, he said.
If they succeeded, it could be a big incident of bank burglary like the Kishorgonj Bank dacoity, he added.
Burglars looted about Tk 16.40 crore from the vault of Sonali Bank’s main branch of Kishoregonj district at Rathkhola of the district town in January in 2014 after making a 30-foot tunnel from a rented house of the suspected burglars.
The crime was detected on January 26. However, the Rab force arrested two of the burglars gang, including the prime suspect along with looted Tk 16.19 crore from Shyampur Balurmath area in the capital on the 28th of the same month.
Acting on a tip-off, a special team of the battalion conducted a raid on the flat at around 3:50 am and entered inside flat using sophisticated technique but the ring leader Masud encountered the elite force spraying bullets. The anti-crime force also returned fire that hit Masud.
Masud sustained bullet injuries and he was sent to Dhamrai Health Complex where he was declared dead at around 6:30 am. One pistol loaded with four rounds of bullets were recovered from his possession, the RAB-4 CO added. – Staff Reporter
