Staff Reporter:
Vatara Thana police under Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) have arrested three individuals along with evidence in connection with a robbery committed at the ‘Di Majend Church’ in the capital’s Baridhara.
The arrestees have been identified as Abul Hossain Ratan alias Habu, 36, Mohammad Nizam alias Mizan, 37, and Akhtar Hossain Mona alias Monir, 38.
According to police, the incident occurred around 2:30am on 28 April, when two miscreants entered the church premises, locked staff members inside their room from the outside, and broke into the chamber of the church’s director, Father Subhas Pulok Gomez, by cutting through a window grille. The perpetrators tied his hands, feet and mouth before looting approximately Tk250,000 in cash, along with his passport, national identity card, and other important documents. They then fled the scene by scaling the boundary wall and escaping on a battery-powered rickshaw.
A case was subsequently filed with Vatara Police Station.
Following the incident, a police team analysed CCTV footage and intelligence inputs, tracing the getaway vehicle. After reviewing data on several thousand rickshaws and drivers across Vatara and neighbouring areas, officers identified Akhtar Hossain Mona.
He was arrested during a raid in the Mugda area of the capital on the morning of 30 April. Police recovered the battery-powered rickshaw used in the crime and Tk 100,000 in stolen cash from his possession.
Based on his information, Mohammad Nizam was arrested later the same day in Ramgati upazila of Lakshmipur district, where Tk48,000 in stolen cash was recovered.
Later, in a separate operation late Thursday night, the alleged mastermind, Abul Hossain Ratan alias Habu, was arrested from Amtala in Khilkhet. Police recovered an additional Tk100,000 along with the stolen passport and identity from him.
Police sources said the suspects are drug addicts and involved in online gambling, and had allegedly been committing crimes such as theft, robbery and mugging in Dhaka and other areas to finance their habits.
Habu is reported to have eight cases filed against him in various police stations, including in Khilkhet. Nizam has a robbery case filed at Lalmai Police Station in Cumilla, while Monir has a narcotics-related case at Halishahar Police Station under Chattogram Metropolitan Police.
