The ringleader of last month’s BRAC Bank heist in Joypurhat was also involved in a sensational burglary in 2008 in capital Dhaka.
Raja Mia, 45, was in jail for 18 months for a heist in a BRAC Bank branch in Shukrabad under the residential Hotel Nid Mahal.
On Thursday, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) announced that seven men were arrested during raids in Dhaka, Narayanganj and Munshiganj with about a fourth of the Tk 19.6 million loot that took place on Sept 26.
Raja Mia was arrested a day earlier. In January 2008, he was involved in the theft of 250 bhori gold from the Shukrabad branch’s vault.
The others are Badal Mallick alias Babla, 49, Manjurul Hasan Shamim, 32, Anup Chandra Pandit, 21, Plaban Chandra Pandit, 25, Swapan Debnath, 40, and MK Kuddusur Rahman Bulu, 52.
RAB spokesperson Mufti Mahmud Khan, at a press briefing, said nine people had taken part in the Joypurat heist.
But Anup and Plaban did not take part in the heist. Their uncle Swapan only had them hide the money, Khan said.
Four men who were directly involved in the burglary and are still on the run are ‘Nawsher’, ‘Islam’, ‘Iqbal’ and Taj Ahmed.
RAB Assistant Director Maksudul Alam said while Raja was in jail he met Shamim, who was incarcerated for theft and they built up a partnership.
Raja came out on bail and teamed up with Shamim to plot the Joypurhat burglary.
Swapan Debnath was an Ansar member at the Chittagong Port from 1995-2004.
RAB said the gang’s plans were pushed back once general strikes were called for Sept 18, 19 and 21. But they continued to cut away at the vault’s wall while staying at a rented flat next door.
Four of the men entered the bank – Raja, Islam, Taj and Nawsher.
Before the heist they also cut off the power to the bank. The branch is on the second floor of a building on a main street in Joypurhat town.
BRAC Bank said Tk 19.6 million was stolen from the branch, but the burglars are saying they took Tk 16.3 million.
The bank’s Head of Risk Management Syed Faridul Islam said there was no deficit in the bank’s security.
He hoped that RAB would be able to recover the rest of the money.
Source: Bd news24
