Police blame Ashulia robbery on Jamaat sabotage

Police today blamed Jamaat-e-Islami for the daring Ashulia bank robbery that left eight people dead and said the incident was an act of sabotage.

“This was no ordinary bank looting, this was a sabotage,” ASM Mahfuzul Haque Nuruzzaman, deputy inspector general of police, said today.

“Primary investigation suggests that Jamaat-Shibir are involved in this,” he said at a press conference after visiting the crime site in Savar.

“Weapons used in this robbery are state-of-the-art, imported from outside of the country. Only trained forces can use these weapons,” he said. “Still now, it seems like they did not plan to go for the money. Striking to kill was their only motive.”

In broad daylight heist yesterday afternoon, about 8 to 10 armed looters stormed into the Kathgora branch of Bangladesh Commerce Bank and shot down seven people.

Locals managed to get hold of two robbers. One of them was beaten to death in mass beating while the other was handed over to police.

The arrested looter was Borhan Mridha, son of Hazi Abdul Mridha from Gopalganj, an activist of Islami Chhatra Shibir, the youth affiliate of Jamaat, according to police.

Jihadi books and other Jamaat-related materials were seized from him, our Savar correspondent reports this afternoon.

The DIG was speaking at a press conference at Savar Model Police Station after visiting the crime scene at Savar’s Ashulia at the outskirts of capital Dhaka.