Published : 13 Nov 2026, 02:02 PM
Updated : 13 Nov 2026, 02:02 PM
The Special Response Battalion (SRB) has failed to recover former interim government advisor Asif Nazrul's stolen mobile phone despite coming within 220 metres of its location before losing track of the device.
The phone remained missing on Friday, three days after it was snatched through the window of Asif's car.
SRB-2 Commander Additional DIG Naimul Hasan told bdnews24.com that the force was disappointed by the setback but had not given up hope.
"We are continuing our efforts," he said.
According to Naimul, the phone was still switched on on Thursday morning, allowing investigators to track it to Mirpur.
"We were very close [to Asif Nazrul's] phone in Mirpur. We were just 220 metres away, and the effort was under way," he said.
"But it was unfortunate, and there was a miscommunication. In the meantime, Asif Nazrul Sir had purchased a new SIM card. When the old SIM was switched off, we lost contact with the stolen phone."
Asif's phone was snatched on Wednesday evening while he was travelling from Dhanmondi towards New Market.
The incident took place in Sobhanbagh, where a snatcher reached through the open window of his car and grabbed the phone.
A case was filed under the Speedy Trial Act with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station.
Police from the station, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch (DB) and the SRB subsequently launched investigations.
Ibn-e-Mizan, deputy commissioner of the DMP's Tejgaon Division, told bdnews24.com: "We are investigating the incident with utmost importance. Alongside us, other agencies are also working to recover the phone."
Police officials involved in the investigation believe recovering the device could take time because it is an iPhone.
Mizan said investigators had yet to find clear CCTV footage from the area where the phone was snatched.
Efforts to obtain footage were continuing, but there had been no significant progress, he added.
Following the incident, Asif wrote on Facebook: "My car window was open. In a second, a boy snatched the mobile phone and ran away."
He also warned against responding to suspicious communications apparently originating from his number.
"If anyone receives a message from my phone number or through any other means asking for money, issuing threats or containing anything suspicious, please ignore it," he wrote.
Additional DB Commissioner Shafiqul Islam said: "We are working to recover former advisor Asif Nazrul's mobile phone. Although we have obtained some CCTV footage, it is not clear."
Investigators from the police station, the DB and the SRB said stolen phones are often dismantled soon after being snatched, with their components separated, making recovery particularly difficult.
Despite the challenges, law enforcers remain hopeful of recovering the device.
