Police retrieve part of Tk 112m Dutch Bangla Bank funds robbed from van in Uttara

The robbers were unarmed, police say

Police have recovered a portion of over Tk 112 million Dutch Bangla Bank Limited funds robbed from a van in Dhaka’s Uttara.

The law enforcers also detained seven individuals, including some employees of the company responsible for transporting the money, after the incident on Thursday.

They found three of the four stolen trunks at Khilkhet, said Harunor Rashid, an additional commissioner at Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch. “The operation to recover the rest of the fund is ongoing,” he said in the evening.

Joshoda Jibon Debnath, the managing director of Money Plant Link Private Ltd, which delivers cash to DBBL designated booths under an annual contract, said one of the recovered trunks was empty, and nearly Tk 39 million was found in the remaining two.

The cash van on its way to an ATM booth was robbed in Uttara's Sector No. 16 around 7:30 am, said Mohammad Raisul Islam, assistant commissioner of Uttara zone. The area is under the jurisdiction of the Turag Police Station.

According to police, the company was using a Toyota Noah microbus that had been modified with grills for protection.

The hijackers were unarmed and used a rented Hiace microbus to stop the car, according to the police. “Sadly, they were able to execute the robbery without the use of any weapons,” said Harunor.

He said the detainees included two Money Plant managers.

Joshoda said their company loads money in the ATM booth daily, and around 7 am on Thursday, while passing through Uttara’s Diabari, their van was blocked by a black microbus.

Four to five people came out of the microbus and beat and dragged out the security guard and driver from the van before taking away the keys.

Joshoda said that the perpetrators took the cash van a short distance away before assaulting and forcing out another worker, who was still inside.

Joshoda said the Money Plan workers in the van were also unarmed, while guards in other cars escorting the vehicles had firearms. The other cars were away when the incident took place, he said.