9 BRAC Bank staff quizzed

DB police yesterday interrogated nine BRAC Bank officials and three staffs of Hotel Nidmahal in connection with the heist at Dhanmondi Branch of BRAC Bank.
Meanwhile, acting on the confessional statements of the four gang members arrested earlier with stolen 200 tolas of gold and other valuables, DB police launched operations outside the capital to nab the other robbers and recover rest of the stolen valuables.
The four-day remand of the four employees of Hotel Nidmahal ended yesterday. They will be produced before the court today.
"I have interrogated nine BRAC Bank officials including its manager Monirul Islam and three staffs of Hotel Nidmahal," said DB Inspector AKM Nasir Ullah, also the investigation officer (IO) of the case.
He said they are verifying their information and trying to find out whether they were involved in the heist.
Nasir said they would continue the interrogation and if necessary they would detain them.
He also claimed that they had identified the mastermind of the heist and are trying to nab him along with his other accomplices.
Replying to a query, he said they are facing difficulties in identifying the owners of the recovered gold ornaments and valuables.
Many affected locker renters have expressed their worries about getting compensation from the bank saying that the authorities are trying to shirk their responsibility for damages. They said the authorities had told them to contact the police.
Earlier the authorities had assured them that the bank would give them compensation within 90 days after the claims are made.
One of the affected locker renters preferring anonymity said although the bank manager filed the case, the bank authorities are asking them to contact the police.
Abedur Rahman Sikder, head of Marketing and Corporate Affairs of BRAC Bank Ltd, told The Daily Star, "We hope that the police will be able to recover all the stolen valuables."
He said the law enforcers would hand over those to the affected locker renters after verifying their claims.
Abedur said 31 out of 60 locker renters have submitted their claims so far and they had sent letters to other 29 locker renters requesting them to submit their claims.
The robbers had made off with gold ornaments and other valuables, primarily estimated at several crore taka, breaking open 75 safe deposit lockers of the bank between January 3 and January 7.