A Dhaka court has placed a 46-year-old man on a two-day remand for attempting to purchase gold ornaments worth around Tk57 lakh with fake notes under the guise of his niece’s wedding in the capital’s Banani.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Rakibul Hasan passed the order on Friday afternoon following a five-day remand petition submitted by the investigating officer.
The investigating officer, Sub-Inspector (SI) Md Jumman Khan of Banani Police Station, produced the accused before the court.
Prosecution Division SI Moktar Hossain confirmed the order, saying that the accused had no legal representation in court at the time.
The accused, Md Rubel Ahmmhed Fakir, was arrested by the police from the scene on Thursday.
According to the case details, Rubel Fakir and his associate, Abdullah Al Kafi, 37, entered “Monimala Jewellers” on Level-2 of Banani Super Market around 4pm on Thursday, posing as customers.
They asked the employees to show them various jewellery designs, claiming they were looking to buy ornaments for their niece’s wedding. After selecting about 20 to 21 bhoris of gold ornaments, they instructed the staff to bill and pack the items.
Because the quantity and price of the gold were exceptionally high, the shop manager, Md Shahidul Islam, called the owner of the shop to inform him. As the owner was delayed in arriving, the suspects were requested to pay the bill.
Rubel then extracted bundles of Tk1,000 denomination notes from a trolley bag he had brought along and placed them on the glass counter.
Upon inspecting the notes, the shop staff became suspicious and confirmed they were counterfeit. Realising they had been detected, the two suspects abandoned the trolley bag and the money and tried to flee the shop.
However, hearing the shouts of the shopkeepers, nearby traders and customers rushed in, caught Rubel, and the excited crowd gave him a mass beating. His associate, Abdullah Al Kafi, managed to escape.
Upon receiving the information, Banani Police reached the spot around 7:45pm, rescued the suspect, and arranged for his medical treatment. The police seized a total of Tk57,05,000 in fake notes across 58 bundles of Tk1,000 denomination, along with the trolley bag.
On Friday, the manager of Monimala Jewellers, filed a case against the two suspects under the Special Powers Act at Banani Police Station as the plaintiff.
In the remand petition, the investigating officer mentioned that during primary interrogation, the accused did not disclose any details about the counterfeit money. A five-day remand was thus requested for close questioning to trace the main source of fake note production and supply, arrest the absconding suspect, and identify other members of this syndicate.
Crime Data Management System (CDMS) records reveal that the arrested suspect, Rubel Ahmmhed Fakir, is a professional member of a counterfeit currency syndicate. He faces a total of 16 cases at various police stations, including Mugda, Shahjahanpur, Paltan, Gulshan, and Uttar Paschim in the capital, as well as in Netrokona, Rajbari, and Shariatpur.
These cases include charges of counterfeit currency manufacturing, fraud, money laundering, and pornography control.
