Robbers have looted gold ornaments, money and other valuables after breaking into a jewellery shop and three other shops at the Rapa Plaza shopping mall in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi.
The robbery took place after the store staff locked down the shop “Rajlaxmi Jewellers” on Saturday night. An estimated 500-700 bhori (5,832g to 8,164g) of gold – worth between Tk3.7 crore to Tk5.2 crore – in ornaments had been stolen, the owner claimed.
Mahadev Karmakar, owner of Rajlaxmi Jewellers, told reporters that they received a call from the shopping mall about the incident.
Police said they have picked up two security guards of the shopping mall for questioning.
According to a statement by the Bangladesh Jewellers Samity (BJS) last month, the retail price of gold per bhori (11.664 grams) has been fixed at Tk74,650.
However, the owner of the jewellery shop, holding the mall’s management responsible for the robbery, said that the robbers covered most of the CCTV cameras on the floor with tissue paper and scotch tape to avoid identification.
He said that they have a multiple step security system for the shopping mall. After the shops’ employees lock their shops, security personnel of the mall confirm it again. Besides, guards stay outside the market all night.
He claimed that the shop was sealed shut with 20 padlocks, and robbers did not break all of them. “This perhaps indicates that they used duplicate keys to open the padlocks,” he suspected.
The owner’s brother Amit Saha told reporters they went home after locking the shop around 8:30pm on Saturday.
The shop’s security camera showed three masked men entering the shop.
The mall’s manager Saifur Rahman said: “Security officials lock down the entire market after business hours. We found that the robbers entered the mall by cutting through a grill.
“The robbers failed to break open the vault of the jewellery shop and took the gold ornaments that were kept on the display racks,” Saifur said.
He added that three clothing stores – Gentle Park, Monsoon Rain and Vogue Sultana –were also robbed.
Gentle Park claimed Tk1.56 lakh, Monsoon Rain claimed Tk25,000 and Vogue Sultana claimed Tk1.22 lakh in cash were looted from their respective shops.
Dhanmondi police station’s Officer-in-Charge Md Ekram Ali Mia said the exact amount of gold looted from the shop is yet to be confirmed.
“We are scrutinizing the CCTV footage both inside and outside of the mall. Primarily, three persons were found involved. After scrutinizing all of the cameras, we will learn how many thieves were actually there,” he said.
“They entered through a ladies toilet on the first floor, breaking open a grill. They are professional robbers,” he said, adding that the intruders only took only money from cash registers of the clothing shops.
Deputy Commissioner of Ramna Division HM Azimul Haque told reporters that they were investigating the incident.
