Within three days into the burglary of Tk16.40 crore from a branch of Sonali Bank in Kishorganj district, around Tk16.20 crore has been recovered Tuesday afternoon by arresting three persons in this connection at the capital’s Postogala in Kadomtoli area.
Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) personnel made the disclosure of the recovery of the looted money along with the arrest of three persons at around 4:00pm.
Immediate after the disclosure, the Rab described its success at a press briefing at around 6:00pm held at Rab headquarters in Uttara.
Rab officials suspected some of the bank officials might have linked to the burglary along with some other people.
Rab intelligence personnel recovered the money and arrested those three persons at a house on the 3rd floor of a six-storey building named Toni Villa on Road-8 in Shyampur, said Col Ziaul Ahsan, Additional Director General (Operations) of the Rab.
Among the detainees, Habibur Rashid alias Sohel Rana has been identified as the mastermind in the burglary and Md Idris Ali was one of his associates while another detained was Habib’s maternal father-in-law Motahar Hossain.
Of them, Habib and Idris were arrested for their direct involvement in the burglary while Motahar for assisting and sheltering to Habib and Idris in the crime. Habib’s maternal father-in-law Motahar Hossain was arrested from a nearby building named Pronoy Villa.
Habib and Idris hail from Patuakhali district. But Habib had rented the house adjacent to the bank building in Kishorganj identifying him with fake name as Sohel Rana.
Habib, who was a construction worker by profession, also had stayed in Saudi Arabia for years. He had been residing in the house since last two years and had been planning for the burglary since he had rented the house.
The gang led by Habib broke through the Rathkhola branch of the Sonali Bank in Kishorganj town by digging 15-feet long whole from a room of another building near the bank building to up to the volt room of the bank building.
Habib had been residing in a part of the building while woman had also been residing in the house along with her two daughters. Her husband was an expatriate in Saudi Arabia.
The burglary was noticed at around 3:00pm on Sunday when the bank officials entered into the volt room and found the whole near the volt.