Fake TV journalists raid house in Chattogram, flee with car worth Tk 4.5m

A group of robbers posing as television journalists entered a house in Chattogram city, looted valuables, and made off with a car worth Tk 4.5 million.

Following a case filed over the incident, police have arrested seven people, including a woman.

They were detained on Thursday afternoon during drives conducted by the Detective Branch (DB) in the Bayazid Bostami, EPZ, and Kotwali areas of the city.

The arrested persons are Abdul Matin, Ashraful Islam, Md Momin, Sharmin Akter, Nur Mohammad Sabbir, Robel Hossain, and Md Faisal.

Police said the robbery took place on 10 October. A group of 10 to 12 people entered a fourth-floor apartment in a multi-storey building in the city’s Khulshi area, identifying themselves as reporters from My TV. Holding the family members at gunpoint, they looted gold ornaments, cash, and mobile phones. At one point, they took a domestic worker downstairs, saying they would search the recently purchased Toyota Corolla private car worth Tk 4.5 million parked there. They then snatched the keys and fled with the car and other valuables. No male members of the family were present at the time. A case was later filed with Khulshi police station.

Habibur Rahman, Deputy Commissioner (north) of the Chattogram Metropolitan Detective Branch, told journalists that after DB took over the case, seven suspects were arrested and the looted car was recovered. Police also seized a motorcycle used in the robbery.

Inspector Aftab Hossain of the Detective Branch told Prothom Alo that the seven arrestees are being interrogated in remand. On the day of the incident, they posed as TV journalists carrying microphones, but none of them are journalists. They work at various shops across the city.

Preliminary investigation suggests they may have committed similar robberies before under the guise of journalists, but victims might not have reported them due to fear or embarrassment, he said.