Dhaka: Police have arrested three individuals in connection with the snatching of gold ornaments from the brother of an expatriate near Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital.
According to United News of Bangladesh, the arrested individuals are Ripon, Al-Amin Shanto, and Abdur Rouf, who is the president of the Airport Organisational Unit of BNP. Another suspect involved in the incident is still at large. The arrests were made by a police team at different times on Saturday night and Sunday evening, as stated by Mirza Tarek Ahmed Beg, deputy commissioner of Uttara Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. He mentioned that the arrests were made following a case filed by the victim's brother, and ongoing police operations aim to apprehend others involved in the crime.
Case documents reveal that Md Suman, the brother of the expatriate, filed the case with Airport Police Station on August 29, under case number 46. Abdur Rouf was identified as the prime accused, while Ripon, Al-Amin Shanto, and Rubel were listed as accused Nos. 2, 3, and 4, respectively. The first information report details that Suman's elder brother, Kawsar, who lives in Malaysia, sent 200 grams of gold ornaments to Bangladesh on August 28 for his sister's wedding and family use. Later that night, Suman and his friend Rohan Chowdhury collected 100 grams of the gold from a person known to Kawsar at the airport, while another 100 grams was handed over to Rohan. They then departed the airport in a rented Hiace vehicle.
Around 8:05 p.m., while on a road opposite Balaka Bhaban on the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway under Airport Police Station, the accused allegedly stopped them, claiming affiliation with the Awami League and Chhatra League, and that they possessed bombs. They reportedly assaulted Suman and Rohan, eventually snatching the 200 grams of gold ornaments they were carrying, as per the FIR. Local people later rescued the two victims, with one passerby attempting to intervene and another secretly recording the incident on a mobile phone camera. The alleged perpetrators fled with the gold upon noticing more bystanders gathering.
Local sources indicated that the arrested individuals have affiliations with BNP and its student wing Chhatra Dal. Ripon was identified as the president of the Airport Police Station unit Chhatra Dal, Al-Amin Shanto as its general secretary, and Abdur Rouf as the president of the Airport Organisational Unit BNP. However, DC Mirza Tarek Beg informed UNB that the police had not yet confirmed their political identities.