It was a sunny noon when a man, dressed in white Panjabi, black cap and a bag in his hand, limped into a jewelry store. As he beckoned, four other people entered the store one by one. Then the firstcomer took out a white pistol from his bag and pointed it at the head of trader Swapan Mandal. His fellows broke the glasses of the display cases and started filling their bags with the gold ornaments.
When Swapan Mandal attempted to stop the robbery, he was shot in his right knee. Later, they made off with the looted jewelry after exploding five to seven hand grenades.
The robbery took place in broad daylight in Alamin Jewelers in Abdullahpur area of South Keraniganj in Dhaka on 17 August. A close circuit television camera (CCTV) recorded the entire incident. It showed that they had looted the shop in only three minutes and fled the scene on two motorbikes that were waiting outside for them.
A case was filed immediately with Dakshin Keraniganj police station, but the law enforcers are yet to arrest anyone in this connection.
A similar robbery took place in Pradeep Jewelry of Bhaluka in Mymensingh around one month back. The jewelry shop owner Krishna Karmakar filed a case, but the robbers are yet to be arrested.
The detective branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police has recently identified a notorious gang while investigating a robbery case in Khilgaon of the capital. They found the gang to be involved in the robbery cases of Keraniganj and Bhaluka, in addition to some other cases across the country.
Masum Ahmed Bhuiyan, superintendent of police (SP) in Mymensingh, told Prothom Alo that they had identified the mastermind of the robbery at Pradeep Jewelry. The police will disclose the details officially after arresting him.
According to DB sources, the mastermind is Hasan Jamaddar, a resident from Rupar Jor area in Bakerganj of Barishal. He has been committing robberies for 13 years. He is wanted in 14 cases filed in different districts, including Dhaka, Manikganj, Mymensingh, Chattogram, and Jhalakathi.
He owns an Aadhaar card, an identification document issued by the Indian authorities. After committing a robbery here, he crosses the border through Brahmanbaria and stays in the neighboring country. He communicates with other gang members through imo and Whatsapp and returns home with another plan of robbery.
According to sources, six to eight members take part in a robbery, under the leadership of Hasan Jamaddar. After selecting the target, they travel to the spot on a rented car or bikes on a predetermined date. They enter the shop and loot jewelry in their traditional fashion. Later, they sell the looted gold to a certain shop in Old Dhaka, distribute the money among themselves, and go into hiding until the situation calms down.
Shahidur Rahman, additional deputy commissioner of DB, said the police have long been trying to nab Hasan Jamaddar. The detectives had arrested him in a robbery case in 2012. He was later shot in his leg during a shootout with the police in Chattogram in 2014.
The police sources also said Hasan Jamaddar erected a three-storey building in Gazipur in his wife’s name, with the money earned from robbery.