Three sacks of bKash cash looted in Gazipur attack

At least four people were injured when a group of robbers on 10 to 12 motorcycles intercepted a private car carrying cash for bKash in Karnapur area of Sreepur upazila in Gazipur on Friday evening.

The attackers fired gunshots to create panic, beat up the employees and assaulted them with sharp weapons before fleeing with three of the four sacks of cash in the vehicle.

The incident took place on the Sreepur-Gosinga road around 6:15pm on October 9. The owner of the distribution company claimed that the car was carrying Tk 4 crore, although the exact amount stolen remains unconfirmed. Preliminary estimates put the stolen amount at around Tk 3 crore.

As of 2pm on Saturday, around 20 hours after the robbery, the bKash distributor, Valuka Channel Enterprise Sreepur Ltd, had not filed a case. Meanwhile, Gazipur district police have launched an investigation to identify those involved and recover the stolen money.

Gazipur Superintendent of Police Mohammad Jasim Uddin visited the scene around 2pm on Saturday. He said the suspects had not yet been identified and that police were questioning employees of the affected company to establish the details of the incident.

The SP said investigators were examining why the company had not informed police before transporting such a large amount of cash. He added that police could provide security assistance if notified in advance.

Investigators are also looking into why the company chose a relatively deserted road while returning from Narsingdi with the money.

He said discussions with the company’s agent had raised several questions about the route and other aspects of the journey. Police were withholding some details in the interest of the investigation, he added.

The injured were identified as Himel Ahmed, 35, the company’s accounts manager in Sreepur; Fahad Hossain, 35, credit manager of its loan department; Rifat, 30, a supervisor in the Sreepur-Mawna area; and Lal Mia, 32, the private car driver.

Himel, a resident of Channapara in Sreepur municipality, sustained a gunshot injury.

Anik Sarkar, an emergency department physician at Sreepur Upazila Health Complex, said the injured were brought to the hospital on Friday evening. Himel had a deep wound on the right side of his abdomen, which doctors suspected was caused by a bullet.

As his condition deteriorated, he was referred to Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital in Gazipur. The other three received primary treatment.

A source in the police said a team of the district Detective Branch (DB) visited the scene on Saturday morning with Fahad Hossain. The team later travelled towards Narsingdi along the route the private car had taken to investigate the vehicle’s journey and gather evidence.

Company owner Rafiqul Islam said the employees had collected the money in Narsingdi and were returning towards Sreepur and Bhaluka when the attackers intercepted them in Karnapur.

According to him, the four sacks contained Tk 4 crore in total. The attackers blocked the car, fired shots, assaulted the employees and fled with three sacks of cash.

Police are continuing their investigation to determine the exact amount stolen and identify those responsible. No suspects had been identified as of Saturday afternoon.

sks