The detained architect of the cinematic Kishoreganj bank burglary and his aide have disclosed the names of a number of bank employees who could have been their accomplices in the crime, law enforcers have claimed.
Col Ziaul Ahsan, additional director general (operations) of RAB, said other than Habib and his aide Idris, many others could have been linked with the looting.
He also raised questions about the security arrangements of the branch and why the money was kept on a table inside the vault room instead of the locker.
Wing Commander ATM Habibur Rahman, director of the Legal and Media Wing of RAB, said they were sure of the involvement of some officials and employees of the bank in the burglary. “Habib and Idris disclosed a few names from among the bankers.”
However, he refused to say whether the names mentioned by the criminals included any of the 12 bank staff, who had already been detained in connection with the robbery.
On Sunday, the authorities of the Rathkhola branch of Sonali Bank in Kishoreganj district township noticed that Tk16.4 crore had been looted from its vault through an underground tunnel.
RAB arrested Habib and Idris from the capital’s Shyampur Balurmath area on Tuesday afternoon and recovered Tk16.2 crore of the looted money from his possession. Motahar, a maternal uncle-in-law of Habib, was also picked up from another building in the neigbourhood for sheltering and assisting the duo.
Yesterday, Habib and Idris were handed over to Kishoreganj police.
Abdul Malek, OC of Kishoreganj Sadar police station, said none of the 12 bank officials and the six others held in connection with the loot was shown arrested yet.
He also said they needed to be sure about the bank officials, who could have been involved with the loot, before showing anyone arrested.
On Tuesday, Col Zia said one of Habib’s maternal uncles gave him the idea of the robbery.
Wing Commander Habibur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune that Sirajul, another uncle-in-law of Habib, had been bearing the expenditures during the two years that Habib had been living in the building adjacent to the bank branch, planning the break-in and digging the 15-feet tunnel.
The cinematic burglary was Sirajul’s brainchild, Habib told RAB.
Originally from Patuakhali, Habib was a construction worker by his profession and a former Dubai expatriate. After coming back to the country, he had been living alone because he was separated his wife.
Further questions
Meanwhile, Col Ziaul Ahsan has raised questions as to why the money Habib had stolen was kept on a table inside the vault room instead of the locker.
He also said there should be investigation into the “weak” security arrangements of the branch.
OC Abdul Malek of Kishoreganj Sadar police station said the Tk16.4 crore in Tk1,000 and Tk500 bills was stacked on a table inside the vault room because there was no space in the cabinets, which were duly locked.
The OC also said although there were six closed-circuit TV cameras installed in the vault room, none of them were working during the break-in.