Industrial Police have arrested four people in connection with a robbery at the Chinese Economic and Industrial Zone in Anwara of Chattogram and recovered looted goods, vehicles used in the crime and locally made weapons.
The information was disclosed at a press briefing held at the Industrial Police-3 Chattogram office on Saturday.
The detainees were identified as Md Helal Hossain, 29, Md Salahuddin, 33, Md Robiul Hossain Sohel, 30, and Md Eskandar Modon, 45, all residents of different areas under Karnaphuli police station.
Police sources said the robbery took place between around 2:00am on February 6 and 3:30pm the following day at the China Economic Zone located in the Mohammadpur area of Barakhain union in Anwara.
A gang of around 15 to 20 armed robbers entered the zone through a section without a boundary wall.
The gang held the security guards hostage at gunpoint and with locally made weapons, tied their hands and feet and smashed closed-circuit television cameras.
They later looted valuable machinery parts from containers, including components for drum trucks, excavators and roller machines.
Following the incident, the zone’s store manager Wen Jiying filed a case with Anwara police station, after which the investigation was handed over to the Industrial Police.
Investigators later identified the suspects using modern technology and carried out the arrests.
Based on information provided by the detainees, police recovered a mini pickup truck and a compressed natural gas-run autorickshaw used during the robbery.
During the operation, police recovered a mini-pickup and a CNG-run auto-rickshaw used in the commission of the crime. Authorities also seized looted goods including a gas cutter, bearings, four bundles of electric copper wire, and a meter. Furthermore, five local weapons were recovered from their possession.
Industrial Police Superintendent Abdullah Al Mahmud said the detainees are members of a professional robbery gang and have multiple cases filed against them at different police stations.
“They admitted their involvement in the robbery during primary interrogation,” he said, adding that the process of producing the accused before a court is underway.
