Robbery in Dhanmondi disguised as RAB, attack on police, 6 arrested

A daring robbery took place in a six-story building in the alley next to Viqarunnisa School on Dhanmondi Road No. 8 early Wednesday morning. 

A group of individuals posing as members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) assaulted the security guards, tied them up, and broke into a jewelry store and several business offices, looting approximately 3.5 million taka and gold ornaments. 

At one point, they even attacked the police.

The police apprehended four individuals from the scene. 

They are Farhad Bin Mosharraf (33), Yasin Hasan (22), Mobasher Ahmed (23), and Wakeel Mahmud (26). 

Later, today, Thursday, two more individuals, Abdullah (32) and Sumon (29), were arrested. 

However, several suspects managed to flee after attacking the police. 

This information was reported by Prothom Alo.

According to the police, three of the arrested individuals are students. 

One police officer said the suspects are active members of an organized robbery gang. 

They carry out their robberies by impersonating members of law enforcement and various intelligence agencies. 

Among the arrested, three are students of a private university.

The police seized two black jackets with "RAB" written on them, three black caps with the same lettering, a microbus, five mobile phones, a metal chisel, and an old red-colored sliding wrench, which were used in the robbery.

These details were disclosed during a press conference today at the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Media Center on Minto Road. 

Mohammad Masud Alam, Deputy Commissioner of DMP‍‍`s Ramna Division, stated that the six-story building is owned by one MA Hannan Azad, who has a duplex flat on the fifth and sixth floors. 

The building also houses his business, a jewelry store named "Alankar Niketan." 

The ground, third, and fourth floors are occupied by the offices of SM Sourcing, and there is a consultancy office on the second floor. 

Around 4:45 AM yesterday, a gang of robbers arrived at the building in three microbuses and a private car. 

They identified themselves as RAB personnel to the security guards at the main gate, claiming to have a magistrate with them.

Officer Masud Alam said the robbers demanded that the guards open the gate, claiming they were conducting a raid. Some of the robbers wore jackets labeled "RAB." 

The security personnel asked them to wait until the morning. 

The robbers then threatened the guards with violence if they did not open the gate and eventually forced it open. 

They entered the building and tied up the security guards, the caretaker, and the drivers with ropes. 

Breaking into the ground-floor office, they beat the office boy and, threatening to kill him, stole 45,100 taka in cash from him. 

Afterward, the robbers broke into SM Sourcing‍‍`s office on the third floor. Hearing the noise, three office assistants from SM Sourcing, who were on the fourth floor, came down. 

The robbers then caught them, assaulted them, and demanded the keys to both the office and their homes. 

Eventually, the robbers forcibly took the keys from the assistants, entered the third-floor office, broke open drawers, looted 2.2 million taka in cash, and vandalized the furniture. 

Another group of robbers broke into the fourth-floor office, looted 1.3 million taka from a cabinet, and also caused damage to the office.

Afterward, the robbers broke into the duplex flat of MA Hannan Azad on the fifth and sixth floors, where they stole 25 grams of gold jewelry, including earrings and chains, along with 150,000 taka in cash. 

They then attempted to forcefully take MA Hannan into their vehicle.

Officer Masud Alam stated that a patrol team from Dhanmondi police station arrived after receiving the news and rescued MA Hannan. 

At this point, the robbers attacked the police with a chisel and a wrench, injuring several officers. 

With the help of locals, the police managed to arrest four members of the gang: Farhad Bin Mosharraf, Yasin Hasan, Mobasher Ahmed, and Wakeel Mahmud.

A case has been filed at Dhanmondi police station against the eight arrested and escaped individuals, as well as 10-12 unknown others. 

Early this morning, in a raid conducted in the Hazaribagh area, Abdullah and Sumon were arrested in connection with the robbery.