Robbers raid Ashulia bank, shoot dead manager, four others; one robber lynched

Robbers have shot dead the manager and four more people in an attempt to loot a bank in Dhaka’s Ashulia while one of the robbers has died in mob lynching, police say.

Police and witnesses said the Kathgarha branch of Bangladesh Commerce Bank Ltd came under attack around 2pm on Tuesday.

Robin Dewan, an eyewitness, told bdnews24.com the robbers had come riding four motorcycles.

He added that robbers opened fire when locals tried to surround them after calls were made on local loudspeakers to foil the robbery.

Savar’s ASP Russell Sheikh told bdnews24.com: “Five were shot dead by robbers. The crowd caught two of the robbers. One of them was beaten to death.”

Witness Dewan said the robbers made off on their motorcycles after facing opposition.

One of the motorcycles fell and the crowd started beating the riders. One of them were killed on the spot while the other was handed to police.

A bag laden with Tk 594,255 was recovered from the scene. The mob set the motorcycle on fire.

The victims were identified as branch’s manager Md Oliullah, 45, security guard Badrul Alam, 38, customer ‘Palash’, 48, street-side vendor Muneer Hossain, 60, and Zillur Rahman, keeper of a shop below the bank, whose age could not be immediately known.

The suspected robber beaten to death could not be identified.

The injured were sent to Savar’s Enam Medical College Hospital.

Emergency room doctor Mahmud Hasan said they had five bodies from the incident.

Locals said at least 15 suffered gunshot wounds after the robbers started firing at random.

The exact haul could not be found out immediately. Duty officer of Ashulia Police Station Sub-inspector ‘Arafat’ said their in-charge was at the scene.

Deputy Inspector General of Dhaka Range SM Mahfuzul Haque Nuruzzaman told bdnews24.com: “Police started drives in the area immediately after the incident. A number of arrests have been made.”