Thieves spent Tk20 lakh to digest National Bank’s Tk80 lakh

Law enforcers have arrested four men in connection with the theft of Tk80 lakh on May 10 from in front of the National Bank's branch at Islampur in the capital's Kotwali.

Tk60 lakh was retrieved and the remaining Tk20 lakh was spent to pay fees of the lawyer and for donation in different shrines to avoid arrest, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Detective Branch (DB) Joint Commissioner Mahbub Alam revealed at a press conference on Tuesday.

The arrestees are Md Hannan alias briefcase Hannan alias Robin alias Rafiqul Islam, and his associates Mostafa, Md Babul Mia and Parveen.

Ringleader Hannan is a wanted criminal in more than 30 cases. There are several cases against his associates in different police stations.

Based on that information and after analysing various other data, Mahbub said, the police arrested the four men from Dhaka, Kishoreganj and Shariatpur on Monday night.

Tk60 lakh was recovered from a rented house in Dholaipar where Hannan lived. The police also recovered two firearms and bullets from the possession of Hannan and Mostafa. A Dhaka court later placed the arrestees on a three-day remand.

How National Bank money was stolen

Md Saifur Rahman Azad, an additional deputy commissioner of police of Kotwali zonal team, told The Business Standard Hannan and his associates are members of Tana group (routine-based muggers).

At noon on May 10, a security guard and a microbus driver were in the van while an executive officer and another security guard of the bank went to fetch money from various branches.

Meanwhile, Hannan and his associates arrived there and chatted with the security guard and the driver.

Since his colleagues were late to return after collecting money, the driver went to find them. As the driver left, Hannan's associates distracted the security guard through various types of conversation.

Then, Hannan opened the car door, took a sack of money, and went to a house in Armanitola. He later paid Tk25,000 to his associates and kept the rest with him.