Taiwanese business couple injured in attack in Dhaka; assailants flee with Tk 600,000

Three attackers have made away with Tk 600,000 after attacking a Taiwanese couple, owners of a business firm in Bangladesh, at their home in Dhaka’s Uttara.

The couple is currently at the Apollo Hospitals undergoing treatment for head injuries.

Police say the attackers are relatives and one of them, who is under arrest, is an employee of the factory the Taiwanese couple owns.

The two suspects still at large also have business ties with the PVC door and ceiling manufacturing company called Xin Xing Yang International Company Limited, say the law-enforcers.

DMP’s Deputy Commissioner Bidhan Tripura on Friday night told bdnews24.com that the attack was carried out with the sole purpose of looting the money.

The incident took place in the wee hours of Friday. This comes at a time when police are still investigating the recent murders of two foreigners and while heightened security prevails across the capital following a series of attacks on two publishing houses and as many police check posts.

The Taiwanese couple was identified as Wang Ming Chi, 54, and his wife Li Li Hwa, 50.

They have been living in Bangladesh for the last 10 years. Their factory is situated in Gazipur’s Gachha area.

Wang Ming Chi is the company’s managing director while his wife is a director there.

DMP spokesperson Deputy Commissioner Muntasirul Islam said they arrested a man named ‘Jahangir’ at Savar’s Baipail early on Friday.

He said police were currently trying to catch his two brothers-in-law ‘Saju’ and ‘Raju’, who are suspected to have taken part in the attack.

Both of them once worked in Xin Xing Yang International Company Limited. They had been doing contractual work for the company since they left it.

The foreign couple’s residence is on the second floor of a building at Uttara Sector No. 4 while the company’s head office is on the first floor.

Several employees of the company including Jahangir live on the ground floor, said DC Bidhan Tripura, adding that Jahangir also had a key to the couple’s flat.

“One of the attackers was wearing a mask. Their target was the money. They forced the couple to hand over the money kept in a locker.”

Tripura said, “The attackers manhandled the victims thinking they had more money in the house. While beating the couple, the attackers bashed their heads on the wall, causing them head injuries.”

However, Xin Xing Yang International’s General Manager Shamir Hasib told bdnews24.com on Friday evening that it seemed the victims’ wounds had been caused by sharp weapons.

“It seems they were wounded with knives. Mr Wang Chi is more seriously injured and is now in ICU. His wife was transferred to a cabin from the ICU in the afternoon."

He said the couple returned home from their factory in Gazipur on Thursday night and was attacked some hours later.

A tenant of the building called him in the middle of the night to inform him of the attack by ‘three armed men’, he added.

Rushing to the spot, Hasib said he found police rescuing the couple. He then accompanied them to the hospital.

The law-enforcers later also took him with them on a raid to catch the perpetrators.

Asked about a likely motive behind the attack, DC Muntasirul Islam told bdnews24.com: “Saju and the company’s owner had been having disputes regarding some overdue payments.”

“On learning that the Taiwanese businessman had withdrawn money (from the bank), Saju along with Jahangir and one other, invaded the couple’s home Thursday night and attacked them.”

They manhandled the couple and fled with Tk 600,000, he added.

However, Shamir Hasib said there was no dispute between Wang Ming Chi and Saju over unpaid bills. “Because he (Saju) always did contractual work. Mr Wang was always punctual with payments.”

He added that the couple had a son and a daughter in Taiwan and they are currently on the way to Bangladesh after learning of the attack on their parents.