8 killed as bandits barge into bank.
A band of armed robbers barged into a private bank, killing seven people, including its manager and a businessman, and looting money before shooting and bombing their way out at Kathgora in Ashulia industrial area on the outskirts of Dhaka on Tuesday afternoon, the police said. A suspected bandit was overpowered and lynched by locals while he was trying to escape after the robbery at the branch of Bangladesh Commerce Bank, which triggered panic in the area. Twenty others were injured in the bloody incident. The Kathgora branch of BCB is housed on the first floor of a three-storey building in a narrow road in the area. Wali Ullah, 45, the manager of the bank branch, security guard Badrul Alam, 38, Glory Apparels managing director Sahabuddin Mollah Palash, 38, bank’s client Monir Hossain, 60, puffed-rice vendor Nuruzzaman died on the spot while Mohammad Jamir, 25, and Nur Mohammad, 50, died after being taken to Enam Medical Collage Hospital.
The suspected robber, who was lynched while trying to flee, could not be identified immediately. Doctors at Enam Medical Collage Hospital in Savar said the victims died from excessive bleeding as the robbers had stabbed and shot them indiscriminately. ‘It was about 2:25pm after the launch break when five or six people stormed into the bank and stabbed a client sitting near the exit. The robbers brandishing firearms and machetes asked all inside to raise their hands and lie on the ground,’ said a survivor, Faruk Ahmed, the bank’s senior assistant officer. Faruk said the robbers then beat up and stabbed the branch manager and dragged him towards vault. An angry mob ringed the bank in order to capture the robbers after some locals raised alarm over the PA system at a mosque. ‘The robbers in a bid to scare away the crowd hurled bombs and opened fire,’ said Mokhlesur Rahman, a witness. Locals chased and caught two of the robbers and beat them up. One of them died on the spot while police took the other to the hospital. Four others managed to get into a car parked nearby and drove towards Ashulia.
The police appeared on the spot after the robbers escaped. Roney Dewan, who overpowered a robber after a chase, said three of the band had come out of the bank and tried to escape on a motorbike. ‘We chased them and knocked them down,’ he said. Of the three, one escaped, another was lynched and a third was handed over to the police, Roney said, adding that they had recovered Tk 4.20 lakh from their possession. There were stains of blood at places inside the bank while investigators seized footage and sealed up some areas for investigation. Dhaka’s police superintendent Habibur Rahman said they were trying to hunt down rest of the band. Bangladesh Commerce Bank chief executive officer and managing director Abu Sadek Md Sohel told New Age they were stunned by the nature of the robbery. The robbers could not break the vault open but looted some Tk 6-7 lakh from the counters and 90 per cent of the cash had already been recovered. ‘They killed the manager after failing to snatch the key of the vault,’ he said.
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