Pensioners mugged by gang posing as Rab men

Muggers in guise of Rab personnel yesterday took Tk 4.62 lakh from two retired government employees in Gazipur's Sreepur upazila.

They robbed Tk 4.45 lakh from Mohammad Kamruzzaman, of Mymensingh's Gafargaon upazila, and Tk 17,000 from Jamal Uddin, of Kishoreganj's Bajitpur upazila, when they were returning home after withdrawing the money from Sonali Bank's Sreepur branch.

The two were deputy assistant agricultural officers of Sreepur agricultural extension department.

Kamruzzaman said a microbus waylaid their CNG-run auto-rickshaw in Garaban area around 12noon. Four plainclothes people got down from the vehicle and identified themselves as Rab members. The gang then started beating them up and forced them into the microbus at gunpoint and blindfolded them, Kamruzzaman added.

They took their money, mobile phones and ID cards, chequebooks and pension documents and dropped them inside the Shalban jungle in Doaibari area.

Kamruzzaman said he withdrew Tk 44.45 lakh pension at one go from the bank around 11:00am and later deposited Tk 40 lakh to another account with Sonali Bank. Jamal withdrew Tk 17,000 monthly pension from the same branch.  

Kamruzzaman with rest of the money and Jamal with Tk 17,000 were going home.

ASP Asaduzzaman, acting company commander of Rab's Gazipur camp, told The Daily Star that Rab members were not involved in the incident.

Hafizur Rahman, sub-inspector of Sreepur Police Station, said they started an investigation upon receiving a complaint in this connection.