The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) has said that the recent attack on Sarwar Ali, a trustee of the Liberation War Museum, and his family members was an attempt at premeditated robbery.
Dr Sarwar Ali's former chauffeur Nazmul, present driver Hafizul Islam and security guard of his apartment Hasan were among the plotters. However, they did not take part in the robbery attempt. Nazmul hired seven youths to carry out the plan.
PBI said the youths were believed to be professional robbers.
On January 5, assailants swooped on Sarwar and his wife on the third floor of their Uttara residence in Dhaka. They also tried to stab Sarwar’s daughter Saima Ali and her husband on the second floor of the same building.
The attackers fled the scene, leaving behind a mobile phone and seven machetes, when two other residents of the building arrived on hearing the victims’ cry for help.
The PBI came to know of the plot and the attack after arresting and interrogating Md. Farhad, 18, one of the members of the robbers' group.
"The former driver is also a professional robber. He used to secure jobs at potential victims' houses to draw plans and later sent out his cohorts to commit crimes," said Md. Bashir Ahmed, special superintendent of PBI (Metro North) at a press conference on Monday.
Suspect Farhad was arrested in Uttara in the capital on Monday morning. The PBI traced their whereabouts as per information gleaned from driver Hafizul Islam and security guard Hasan, who were arrested on the day of the incident.
"Initially we came to know that they had wanted to take cash and jewellery from the flats. We will seek remand for them from the court for further interrogation," he said.
On January 4, the robbers orchestrated the initial plan of robbery at a restaurant in Ashkona, Uttara.
The next day, they finalised the plot at Rose Valley residential hotel in Uttara.
Altogether seven youths took part in the break-in. They tried to kill Dr Sarwar Ali when he attempted to resist them. "We have found no involvement of militants in the incident yet," the PBI official said at the press conference.
Following the incident, Sarwar Ali told reporters that two men, aged between 25 and 30, entered the building around 10:20pm. They first went to his daughter's apartment on the third floor and were looking for Dr Sarwar.
When his daughter and her husband opened the door, the miscreants held them hostage at knifepoint and asked them about Sarwar's whereabouts, he added.
He said one of the attackers went to his flat on the fourth floor, while the other stayed with his daughter and son-in-law on the third floor. When Sarwar opened the door, the knife wielding assailant also held him hostage.
"The attacker also threatened to strangle my wife if she cried for help," he continued.
In the meantime, his daughter and son-in-law managed to push the other attacker out of their apartment and locked the door. They then called the national emergency helpline 999 for police help, he added.
As they were shouting for help, two of Sarwar's neighbours, one a former army person, came out of their apartment to catch the attackers, but the assailants managed to flee, Sarwar said.
Dr Sarwar Ali and his family had earlier suspected that the attack was planned and carried out by a militant group since the assailants did not rob any money or valuables. Sarwar has always been vocal against anti-liberation elements.
