Yet another 'heist' at govt office

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

In a sequel to heists in five public offices in Rajshahi and Natore over last two nights, criminals ransacked another government office at Sutrapur in Bogra town on Sunday night and stabbed its night guard to death.

Meanwhile, the government sent alerts to all district and upazila administration offices and law enforcement agencies to remain vigilant.

Police and officials concerned in Bogra told our staff correspondent that a gang forced their way into the public works department (PWD) office, sometime on Sunday night, and stabbed night guard Jamaluddin, 35, to death and tied up another guard Abu Taleb.

They also ransacked 33 almirahs in 14 rooms of the office.

Earlier on Friday and Saturday nights, criminals also ransacked five government offices in Rajshahi and Natore, including Rajshahi Divisional Commissioner's office after tying up their night guards.

Police of the three districts could not ascertain the motives behind the robbers who hardly took away anything.

In Bogra, police said the officials came to know about the incident when they went to the office at about 9:00am. Some documents might have gone missing from the office but not for sure yet, they added.

The robbers might have killed Jamaluddin after being resisted by him, police said adding that they also made Taleb unconscious by giving some intoxicant.

Executive Engineer Md Abul Bashar of Bogra PWD filed a case in this connection with Bogra Sadar Police Station but police could nab none till filing of this report last evening.

State Minister for Home Affairs Shamsul Haq Tuku held a pre-scheduled meeting on law and order of the district yesterday. Bogra Deputy Commissioner Md Iftekharul Islam brought the issue before the minister's notice and the later asked the law enforcers to be after the perpetrators.

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday afternoon, Home Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder said the motive behind these incidents might be to embarrass the government. He, however, expressed firm resolve that law enforcers would be able to nab the culprits soon.

The home secretary said 39 people have been picked up in Rajshahi in this connection while police are on the hunt to nab the criminals involved in Natore and Bogra incidents.

Meanwhile, following a directive from Home Minister Sahara Khatun, the police headquarters (PHQ) yesterday sent separate messages to its different units including seven divisional ranges, six metropolitans, criminal investigation department (CID), detective branch (DB) and special branch (SB) to look into the incidents.

Assistant Inspector General (AIG-Media) of Police Nazrul Islam said, "The police headquarters have sent separate written messages to all the units concerned, including the divisional range in Rajshahi and Chittagong and also the police superintendents (SPs) of Rajshahi, Natore, Bogra and Chittagong."

PHQ sources said messages have also been sent to all the divisions and SPs reminding of the mysterious break-ins of 56 rooms of Bangladesh Railway Headquarters in Dhaka and the Eastern Zone office in Chittagong on January 10 this year.

PHQ senior police personnel suspect members of a same group having inter-district link might have committed the burglaries.

Deputy Commissioner Mainul Hasan of DB-North, who supervised the Railway office break-in case, told The Daily Star, "We have recovered stolen laptop, mobile phones and money and arrested the persons involved. But we did not get anything mysterious behind the incident."

Our staff correspondent from Rajshahi adds: Rajshahi Divisional Commissioner Hafizur Rahman Bhuiyan sent letters to the deputy commissioners of all the districts of the division asking them to step up security measures.

The letter also ordered for forwarding the message to different Upazila Nirbahi Officers, said sources.

The divisional commissioner's office also sent a letter to Rajshahi metropolitan police commissioner to ensure security of the city by increasing patrol at nights.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police (Rajshahi range) Mokhlesur Rahman who was in Bogra yesterday told The Daily Star over phone that all superintendents of police in the division were asked to take extra security measures.

The DIG said they would increase police patrol around government offices in particular at night