A group of muggers shot a businessman and snatched away Tk16 lakh in broad daylight from the crowded market area of Islampur in the capital yesterday.
Victim Badal Munshi, 32, proprietor of fruit business Deepa Enterprise, was shot in his right thigh and is now under treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
Badal told the Dhaka Tribune that he and his two staff members were going to the Islampur branch of the National Bank from his workplace in Badamtoli area to make a deposit. He said the money was for their client in Chittagong who was waiting for it to send a shipment of fruits.
He added: “As soon as we reached the pond area of Nababbari around 2pm, six to eight youths – all aged between 18 to 22 – surrounded us and tried to take the money from us. When my staff and I protested, they shot me and then fired some warning shots. The people nearby started taking shelter and shops closed their shutters; the muggers then exploded two crude bombs and fled the scene.”
Badal is one of the three partners of Deepa Enterprise. The two other partners are Ranjit and Nazim.
Contacted, Ahaduzzaman Mia, Assistant Commissioner of Police of Kotwali division, confirmed the incident and said “On information, we went to the spot and are now questioning Badal and the two staff members. We are trying to trace the muggers.”
He added that many businessmen of old Dhaka frequently travel with large sums of cash and they do not always inform the police, for which reason, such incidents recur.
Till filing of this report, yesterday evening, no one was arrested and no case was filed in this regard.
