The Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has arrested the mastermind behind the hijacking of Dutch Bangla Bank Ltd’s (DBBL) money.
Confirming the matter, DB Additional Commissioner Harun-Or-Rashid said the accused is Sohel Rana, 33, and he was arrested from Dhaka’s Savar area on Friday.
The DB team recovered Tk 87.50 lakh from his possession. A Noah microbus was seized as well.
On Thursday, the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) recovered about Tk 9 crore and also arrested seven people, including two directors of Money Plant Link (Pvt) Limited, the security company that was transporting the money, in this connection.
Detectives said the crime was premeditated and the robbers had been planning it for long.
Harun-Or-Rashid told reporters that the Money Plant microbus had started its journey from Mirpur 12 in Thursday morning and the robbers, who were in another microbus, intercepted it in Uttara when it was on its way to Savar.
He said there were six people in the Money Plant vehicle. “The robbers beat them up, moved four trunks of money to their own microbus, and fled. The trunks contained Tk 11.2 crore.”
Harun said a DB team immediately went to the spot after receiving the information and patrols were conducted in different parts of the capital.
With the help of officials in various police stations, the detectives started working to recover the money and catch the robbers, he said. “At one stage, the seven people were arrested along with three trunks while they were fleeing from Uttara.”
The DB official further said the robbers had been following the company’s transportation of money for a long time, adding they were not armed during the crime.
He said more details would be revealed after interrogating the arrestees.
The money was looted at Uttara sector 16 around 7:30am when it was being taken to refill Dutch-Bangla Bank ATM booths, said Turag Police Station Officer-in-Charge Moudud Howlader.
Dutch-Bangla Bank Managing Director Abul Kashem Md Shirin told The Business Post they had learned about the recovery of money.
“We have no responsibility in this case because the security company was transporting the money. It is their responsibility to return us the money. They have got the money insured,” he added.
