Victim locker holders demand due compensation

Victims of Brac Bank Heist stage a demonstration before the manager of the bank's Asad Gate branch in the city yesterday demanding the authorities compensate them immediately. Photo: STAR

The victim locker holders of Brac Bank last night staged a demonstration inside the Asadgate branch of the bank alleging that the compensation the bank offered them was too low.
Most of the 46 locker holders, along with their family members, thronged the Asadgate avenue branch, which was shifted from the Sukrabad after the ornaments and valuables were robbed in January.
The bank authorities sent letters to victim locker holders that they would get Tk 1.5 lakh to 5 lakh as compensation, sources said.
But the locker holders said the total amount of the compensation money is less than the loss of a single victim.
Rabeth Khan, one of the victims, told The Daily Star that he alone had kept over 64 totals of gold. But the bank authorities decided to give him only Tk 5 lakh as compensation.
Twenty-six locker holders submitted their claims in January that they had kept over 25,000 tolas of gold in their lockers.
Mohammad Munirul Islam, manager of the branch, said he issued the letters to the victims according the decision of the higher authorities of the bank.
On the other hand, the DB police so far recovered over 550 tolas of stolen gold ornaments, five pieces of diamonds, around 100 tolas of silver ornaments and Tk 3 lakh in cash and arrested 27 people in connection with the heist.