Attack on Sarwar Ali, family was a robbery attempt, police say

The attack on Liberation War Museum Trustee Sarwar Ali and his family at their home in Dhaka’s Uttara was an attempted robbery, police have said after arresting a suspect.

The Police Bureau of Investigation or PBI arrested ‘Farhad’, 18, in Uttara on Monday morning, the bureau’s Superintendent of Police Bashir Ahmed said.

“We initially believe it was a robbery incident. They did it to take money and jewellery,” he said.

Sarwar had earlier said he believed the attackers had militant links. Protests have also been held against alleged militant attack on him and his family.

Bashir said they were not ruling out the militant-link angle in the investigations.

Everything will be clear when they arrest Sarwar’s former chauffeur ‘Nazmul’, he said.

Sarwar, a physician and the chairman of pharmaceuticals company Renata, had said it had appeared to his wife Makhduma Nargis that Nazmul had been inspired by Islamist extremism and was prone to radicalisation.

The attackers left behind a mobile phone without a SIM card, seven cleavers, a blood pressure monitor, an iPad, and nylon rope in a bag in the garage when two other residents of the building arrived on hearing the victims screaming for help on Jan 5.

The phone found in the bag belongs to Nazmul, according to police.

Bashir said there were seven attackers while security guard Md Hasan and chauffeur Hafizul Islam, who are behind bars now, abetted the crime.