Seven people were killed by bank robbers and 11 injured in the Ashulia industrial area near Savar yesterday.
Another man, one of the robbers, was beaten to death by an angry mob that got hold of two of the gang. The other was rescued by police in critical condition.
Those killed by the robbers are bank manager Waliullah, 45; security guard Badrul Alam, 38; client Palash, 48, a businessman; Munir Hossain, 60, who sells snacks near the bank; Zillur Rahman, a local shopkeeper; Zamir, 38, resident of the Kuturi area, and Nur Mohammad, 35, a local rice trader.
Witnesses said that around 2:30pm, a team of eight to 10 armed robbers came in front of the Kathgarha branch of Bangladesh Commerce Bank Limited located in the Hazi Nazimuddin Super Market in Ashulia. Three entered the branch while the rest waited outside.
Police said those who entered the branch asked the manager to give them cash. When he refused, they held the bank staff at gunpoint and snatched Tk6,94,225. Of the amount, Tk1 lakh was taken from one of the clients and the rest from the bank’s cash.
When the hostages tried to resist, the robbers hacked at them, killing manager Waliullah, security guard Badrul, and client Polash on the spot.
As area residents learned that a robbery was taking place inside the bank, they attempted to gather more people using the loudspeaker of a local mosque.
Hearing the announcement, the robbers positioned outside the branch started firing indiscriminately and exploded hand-made bombs and one of the three hand grenades that they had with them.
At least 10 people received bullet wounds in the shooting, and 20 to 25 others received minor injuries from bomb splinters, said Khandakar Golam Faruq, assistant DIG of the police’s Dhaka Range.
Soon, the robbers operating inside the branch came out and together with those covering for them on the outside, they tried to flee the scene on motorbikes and in a brown sedan parked on the highway, some 50 yards from the bank.
Witness Ilias, owner of a local confectionery, said as locals blocked the street leading to the highway, the sedan sped towards a small alley in Tongabari. They might have come out of the other side of the alley and went in the direction of Ashulia, Ilias said.
Two other robbers who were fleeing on a motorbike had the cash as they sped towards the Amtola area. Locals blocked their way some 400 yards from the bank and they tried flee, leaving their bike and the sack of cash there.
But residents caught them and beat them mercilessly, killing one of them. Police later recovered one of the robbers alive but in critical condition, even though the mob did not want to hand him over to police, leading to a brief scuffle.
The injured robber, whose identity is still unknown, is currently undergoing treatment at the Enam Medical College Hospital in Savar. The three people who were killed inside the bank and those who were injured in and outside the bank were also admitted to the same hospital.
Four of the injured later died in the hospital. A total of 16 people are currently undergoing treatment there; of these, 10 are at the ICU, said on-duty doctor Abdul Al Mamun.
He also said that one of the legs of a local raw materials trader Shafiqul, 36, had to be amputated because it was badly injured with bullets.
Police recovered five hand-made bombs and a live grenade from the spot. A team from the RAB headquarters later diffused the bombs.
Md Yousuf Ali Howlader, chairman of the board of directors of Bangladesh Commerce Bank Limited, has announced they will compensate the victims and their families.