A Dhaka court on Friday placed two men on a five-day remand each in connection with the theft of copper cables from the red telephone line at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) located inside the Secretariat.
The accused, Ranjan Chandra, 26, and Rezakul Islam, 32, were produced before the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Hasan Shahadat, who granted the remand after a hearing.
The investigation officer of the case, CTTC Sub-Inspector Enjamul Haque, had sought a seven-day remand for the two suspects. The court, however, approved five days of remand for each.
According to Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) sources, the incident drew widespread attention after reports of the theft emerged in the media and on social platforms.
Following the incident, the Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL) filed a case with Shahbagh Police Station against unidentified individuals.
During the investigation, law enforcers detained Ranjan Chandra, an outsourcing employee at the Secretariat, for questioning on Thursday.
During interrogation, he allegedly confessed to stealing copper cables from Building No. 3 of the Secretariat on 22 May.
Investigators said he later sold 8.2 kilograms of the stolen copper cable to a scrap shop near Ekushey Hall of Dhaka University on 1 June at Tk600 per kilogram.
Based on information provided by Ranjan, a CTTC team conducted a raid and arrested Rezakul Islam from the scrap shop.
In a subsequent operation at a scrap warehouse on Hossaini Dalan Road in Chawkbazar, law enforcers recovered the stolen copper cables belonging to the Prime Minister’s Office red telephone connection.
Preliminary investigations suggest that an organised criminal network may be involved in the theft of cables linked to several important communication systems within the Secretariat.
Investigators said efforts are underway to identify and bring the masterminds behind the racket to justice.
