Miscreants stormed at the De Mazenod Church in the capital’s Baridhara in the dead of Tuesday night, tied up the hands, legs, and mouth of the church’s director, and looted Tk 250,000.
Police said three people were arrested from Thursday morning to Friday morning in operations conducted in Dhaka and in remote char areas of Ramgati in Lakshmipur district in connection with the robbery at the church,’ where the perpetrators climbed over the boundary wall and cut through the grill.
Police also recovered Tk 248,000, a passport, a national identity card, and grill-cutting equipment from their possession.
The arrested are Abul Hossain Ratan alias Habu, 36, Mohammad Nizam alias Mizan, 37, and Akhtar Hossain Mona alias Monir, 38.
Police said the arrested individuals are heavily addicted to drugs and online gambling. They planned the robbery to fund these habits.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner (Gulshan division) M Tanvir Ahmed shared these details at a press conference at the capital’s Bhatara police station today, Friday.
How the incident occurred
At the press conference, DC Tanvir Ahmed said the incident took place on 28 April (Tuesday). Around 2:30am that night, two criminals wearing masks climbed over the wall of De Mazend Church and first locked the door of the staff quarters from the outside.
They then cut the grill of the office room of the church director, Father Subhash Pulak Gomez, entered there, tied his hands, legs, and gagged his mouth, and looted Tk 250,000, a passport, a national ID card, and other necessary documents from the office cabinet.
Later, with the help of another accomplice, they fled by climbing over the wall and escaping on a battery-powered rickshaw.
Investigation and operation
After the incident, a police officer from Bhatara police station filed a case over the robbery. During the investigation, police analysed CCTV footage, which showed a battery-powered rickshaw moving suspiciously near the church.
Police then verified information of several thousand rickshaws and drivers across Dhaka and identified rickshaw driver Akhtar Hossain alias Mona.
With technological assistance, he was first arrested from the Mugda area of the capital, and Tk 100,000 and the rickshaw used in the robbery were recovered from him.
Based on his information, Mizan was arrested from remote char areas of Ramgati in Lakshmipur district, and Tk 48,000 was recovered from him.
Finally, the mastermind of the incident, Abul Hossain, was arrested from Amtala in Khilkhet of the capital. From him, police recovered another Tk 100,000, along with the looted passport and national ID card.
Addicted to drugs and online gambling
Police officer Tanvir Ahmed said all three arrested individuals are severely addicted to drugs and online gambling, and they planned the robbery to arrange money for these activities.
Abul Hossain has eight cases against him in various police stations, including Khilkhet in the capital. Mizan has a robbery case at Lalmai police station in Cumilla, and Akhtar has a drug case at Halishahar police station in Chattogram.
Police are investigating whether others are involved in the group.
Replying to a question, Tanvir said that as Easter Sunday had recently passed, they assumed there would be a significant amount of money. According to that plan, they brought a battery-powered rickshaw from Mugda. The rickshaw driver was their accomplice and was guarding outside, while the other two entered, tied up the Father, and took money and even the passport.
When contacted in the afternoon, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Bhatara police station Mazharul Islam told Prothom Alo that the arrested individuals initially confessed to their involvement in the church robbery.
They were later sent to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court in Dhaka, which, after a hearing, ordered them to be sent to jail.