The cast and crew of Nadan were in the middle of a shoot in Bandarbans Thanchi when they were caught in the crossfire during dual bank robberies by armed men, forcing an abrupt halt to the filming.
As many as 30 cast and crew members were in danger as bullets grew across the Thanchi marketplace on Apr 3.
According to actor Shamol Mawla and singer Arfan Mredha Shiblu, the crew members had arrived in Thanchi a few days ago after shooting in Bandarbans Remakri for 15 days.
While speaking of the horrifying events that unfolded on the third day of their shoot, Shamol told bdnews24.com: "It was a very scary situation. Some 50 rounds of bullets were fired right in front of the hotel. I am still in trauma."
"People were running frantically towards Thanchi marketplace at the sound of the gunfire. We sought refuge on a hill near the Sangu River. We later returned to the hotel with the help of law-enforcing agencies. I came back to Dhaka that same night," he added.
A group of armed robbers looted the Thanchi branches of the Bangladesh Krishi Bank and Sonali Bank around 12:30pm on Wednesday. They took Tk 208,000 from Krishi Bank and Tk 1,500,000 from Sonali Bank.
The robbers also opened fire near the banks to spread panic among the locals during the heist.
Before that, on Tuesday, over 100 men attacked the Sonali Bank branch in Ruma Upazilas Sadar area. As many as 20 people, including bank officials and security personnel, were assaulted, and the branchs manager, Nezam Uddin, abducted.
The vocalist of Hawas popular song Shada Shada Kala Kala, Arfan Mredha Shiblu also spoke about the harrowing experience in Thanchi to bdnews24.com.
"The firing began suddenly. We didn know who was firing the weapons or from which direction they were shooting. The actors were upstairs shooting for the film. The rest of us, including the production crew, were downstairs when the gunshots were fired," said Arfan.
According to Arfan, everyone came back to the hotel after an hour and a half when things calmed down a bit.
"I came back to Bandarban town by 5pm. We have four more days of shooting left for the movie," he added.
—bdnews24.com
