Another Sonali Bank heist, four detained

Just over a month after the daring heist in Kishoreganj, another group of miscreants have decamped with over Tk 3.2 million from a branch of Sonali Bank at Bogra’s Adamdighi Upazila by digging a tunnel. Alamdighi Police Station OC Nazrul Islam said that the miscreants dug the underground tunnel to the bank’s vault from a furniture shop adjacent to the bank situated at the Adamdighi bus stand area. The bank’s branch manager Md Shamsuddin said, “All branches of the bank were open on Saturday for transactions of the candidates of reserved women seat in Parliament. There were no other transactions on that day (on Saturday).” He found the vault was broken when he opened the bank around 4pm on Saturday after closing of business on Thursday. “Then I informed the bank authorities and police right away,” the branch manager said. Shamsuddin said there was over Tk 3.2 million in the vault. “We put the money in the vault before we closed the bank on Thursdayfor the weekend.” After visiting the branch on Saturday, Sonali Bank Deputy General Manager Abdus Samad said only Tk 16,000 was found left in the vault. Meanwhile, four persons have already been detained in connection with the heist, including two guards of the bank. They are - security guards ‘Milon’, 24, and Purna Chandra, 22, owner of the furniture shop Ashraful Islam and one of his employees. OC Nazrul Islam said they were hoping to find out who were behind the heist by questioning the detainees. The bank is on the ground floor of a three-storey building owned by local businessman Kabir Hossain. The furniture shop is situated only several yards from that building. On Jan 26, miscreants made-off with Tk 169 million from the vault of the state-owned bank’s branch in Kishoreganj’s Rathkhola after tunnelling their way into it from an abandoned room of a neighbouring house. However, two days later, law enforcers nabbed two robbers including the ringleader Sohel alias Habib with Tk 161.90 million of the stolen cash, according to a news agency.