Simultaneous collapse of several components of the security system that includes, alarms, security manning and electricity at the time of the robbery raised a number of questions.

The robbery on December 06 was the biggest heist ever in the criminal history of the country where the robbers looted around 120 kg (more than 10,000 bhories) of gold and unspecified amount of cash.

The owners of the gold shops that have been looted suspect involvement of a number of employees in the market.

"The CCTV is supposed to be manned and watched throughout the night but on the night the men went home at 12:30 am," said Badal Mia, owner of New Parma Jewellers' one of the gold shops that was looted.

"All the lights in the corridor of the floor were switched off although the lights are not supposed to be off even when the market is closed," he added.

He also said the alarm system of the market was installed in such a way that in case of any unusual activities or break-in the alarm would be activated and the mobile phone of the managing director (MD) and market manager would be alerted automatically. But somehow none of the alarms rang.

Quoting the Managing Director of the market NM Ziaul Haque Badal Mia said that Haque's mobile phone was out of order due to low charge in the battery. "Moreover the manager of the market was in India when the robbery took place," said Badal Mia.

Managing Director of the market N M Ziaul Haque claimed that there was no negligence from the market owners.

"We had installed 3 additional CC cameras with the previously existing four at the jewellery floor in response to the demand from the shop owners. We have also installed two-layer shutter at the entrance of the floor. We deployed 22 security personnel from a private company for 24 hours service, therefore the question of negligence from our side is untrue," said Haque.

Regarding security alarm Haque said that the security alarms outside market was activated when the robbery took place. "The security personnel of the next building heard the alarm but somehow it did not alert my cell phone," Haque said.

The manager of the market Mominul Islam said that he was abroad when the robbery took place.

However, the MD of the market blamed the security service provider for the robbery.

Direct involvement of the security guards in the gold robbery at Mascot Plaza last week and their disappearance has put the entire security matter under question. According to investigators two of the security guards who were recorded in the CC camera sawing the steel grills open, had used false addresses while being recruited by the Security Management Service (SMS).

Sirajul Islam, general manager, SMS the security service provider to the Mascot Plaza, admitted that the addresses of one of security guards involved with the crime was false but he said that the address of the second person was correct.

"We recruit on the basis of a certificate issued by the local chairman and also we check academic certificates. One of the security guards who wrote his name Anayet Karim and address Sultanpur, Bakergonj turned out to be false," said Sirajul Islam.

Investigating authority of the case DB (Detective Branch) has found that SMS has been operating without any authorisation from the government. DB sources said that the so-called security guards provided by SMS did not even receive proper training.

On December 6, the robbers looted gold and cash amounting to over Tk 20 crore from four jewellery shops of Mascot Plaza shopping mall at Uttara. Police have so far detained three security personnel who were on duty and interrogation continues.

The owners of the jewellery shops in the city are concerned about the security of their valuables. According Bangladesh Jewellers Samity (BJS) leaders between 2001 and 2006 2,45,030 bhoris (2,961 kg) of gold were looted in 22 robberies while the police so far recovered only 230 bhoris.