The Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch (DB) is working to arrest those responsible for the robbery of Tk1.21 crore from DL Petrol Pump in Uttara while the money was being taken to a bank for deposit.
Additional Police Commissioner (Detective) Mohammad Shafiqul Islam said the suspects would be brought to justice soon.
He made the remarks in response to questions from journalists at the DMP Media Centre on Wednesday afternoon.
“We are all working on this. We are looking into many aspects of the case. We are hopeful that we will apprehend the suspects soon,” Shafiqul Islam said.
He added: “The DB has successfully solved almost all the incidents that have taken place in Dhaka Metropolitan City, and the suspects have been arrested. We are hopeful that we will also solve the robbery involving Tk1.21 crore and bring those responsible to justice.”
How the robbery happened
The robbery took place between 10am and 10:30am on August 9, when Tk1.21 crore belonging to DL Petrol Pump was being taken to a bank for deposit near the southern side of RAB-1 Battalion headquarters in Uttara.
The petrol pump is reportedly owned by Tasin Akter Haque, a cousin of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.
According to police and relevant sources, several people riding three motorcycles intercepted the vehicle carrying the money. They rammed the vehicle, forcing it to stop, then threatened the occupants with sharp weapons, snatched bags containing the money and fled the scene.
The case statement identifies the stolen money as belonging to DL Petrol Pump. The petrol pump’s manager, Karim, filed a case with police, naming unidentified individuals as the accused.
People associated with the petrol pump said it handles transactions worth around Tk45-50 lakh a day. Under its usual procedure, the previous day’s sales proceeds are taken to the bank for deposit between 10am and 10:30am the following morning.
As banks remain closed on Fridays and Saturdays, the proceeds from those two days are deposited together on Sunday, the next working day. As a result, a comparatively large amount of money was being transported to the bank that day.