In Guise of Law Enforcers

On November 28 2007, City Monetary Exchange was raided by members of the Joint Forces. The raid turned out to be a hoax and the law enforcers turned out to be robbers dressed in police and army uniform. Writes Kutubuddin Kamal

For Chan Mia, chairman of the City Monetary Exchange, it was just another working day. Even when nine men dressed in army and police uniforms arrived at his gate identifying themselves as members of the joint forces, he was more baffled than frightened. They demanded to see the company’s legal papers and transactions, and Chan Mia and his cashier were happy to comply to get whatever the complication was sorted out quickly, without any dispute. But they did not realise that the checks were merely a ruse, and after they had finished, Chan Mia found himself having been robbed of Tk.17 lakh in cash. The incident occurred on November 28 at around 3:00pm, on the ground floor of the Baitul Khair building in Purana Paltan. Md. Kamrul Hasan, the managing director of the company and the son of Chan Mia, usually looked after the management and transactions of the exchange but was absent on that particular day. Kamrul was at the airport leaving for Hajj, while his father was left in charge of the company. ‘The collapsible gate of the compound was open, and only the cashier and I were working; the rest of the employees were either out on work or had gone to the mosque for prayers’ says Chan Mia. Chan Mia explains that a total of nine men entered the compound, three of whom wore army uniforms, two in police uniforms and the four others in civil wear. ‘The men’s attitude and manner were of those with legal authority,’ says Chan Mia. ‘They even had “army” haircuts and were tall with robust physiques; features that are typical of army personnel’ The men entered through the open door and greeted Chan Mia in a very official manner. Those in army uniforms demanded to see the company’s legal documents, transactions and statements. One of the others locked the door behind him and stood guard to make sure no one entered or left the compound. ‘I always keep my papers up to date and send monthly reports to the Bangladesh Bank, so I was quite certain that they wouldn’t find anything wrong with the documents’ says Chan Mia. Chan Mia hurriedly gathered the required documents, while the men dressed in army uniforms discreetly took note of where Chan Mia’s safe was located. Meanwhile the men in police and civil attire went behind the counter where the cashier sat, and began emptying the cash register and started filling their bags with money and every other document in sight. ‘Aside from money from the cash register, they took all the paperwork that they could find, including several of my diaries with important contact numbers and information,’ says Chan Mia. Back in the room with the safe, the men studied the documents thoroughly and abruptly asked Chan Mia to open the locker. Although taken aback by the sudden command, Chan Mia brought out the key without much hesitation and was about to unlock the safe, when one of the men snatched the key from him and unlocked the safe himself. Within the next few seconds Chan Mia found himself blindfolded and forced to sit on a chair. In the meantime the cashier was blindfolded as well by the other men, as they finished stuffing their bags with all the documents and cash that were obtainable from the counter. After having completed their task behind the counter, the men in civil wear and police uniforms took mobile sets and money from the customers who were present at the compound during the made-up raid. ‘They asked me not to make any sound, and I had no idea of what was going on,’ recalls Chan Mia. ‘One of them asked me to present all the documents and transactions at the Motijheel Thana.’ Till then, Chan Mia was completely unaware of the activities taking place in the other sections of the store. Outside, owners, salesmen and customers from other stores began crowding around, but keeping a safe distance from the exchange compound, in anticipation of learning what was going on. ‘My owner went close to the collapsible gates of the compound, when a man dressed in a police uniform commanded him to get back into his store’ says Abdus Sattar of AB Card Center. ‘No one dared to speak or question them on what was going on,’ says Unus Ali (Not real name), another witness to the incident. Most of the other witnesses said that the people from surrounding stores all watched in silence, but none dared to get close to the guarded collapsible gate. ‘When I finally heard footsteps fading away, I removed the blindfold and rushed out to find that they had left with my cashier as a captive’ recalls Chan Mia. ‘Petrified, I went to my landlord and explained what had happened; I still oblivious of the fact that whatever happened was the execution of a robbery.’ ‘When I called the Motijheel Thana, they said that they were unaware of any such raid to have taken place,’ says Chan Mia, adding that the Paltan Thana and Army Camp also expressed ignorance towards the raid. ‘At that point, when I realised that there was the possibility of it having been a robbery, I was more worried about my employee than the money. The men left in the minivan with which they arrived, taking with them a blindfolded and terrified Abdus Samad, the cashier. ‘They didn’t beat me or hurt me’ says Samad. He was later dropped off near the Tejgaon Press Club. ‘They said that they would drop me off here and a major’s car that was following behind would pick me up,’ adds Samad. He also mentions that, during the entire time that he was in the vehicle, the men talked about camps and men in the army; in general, the ways in which army personnel would speak.’ The entire operation took place within a mere 7-10 minutes reflecting the expertise of such men. They took a reported Tk.17 Lakh, consisting of $12,450 USD, 2,100 Euro and approximately 6 and a half Lakh taka. Chan Mia, however, still has difficulty in accepting what has happened. ‘The police stations and RAB kept my full statements, but I confessed that it was still difficult for me to believe that the men were robbers,’ says Chan Mia. ‘With the current state of emergency under the interim government, civilians don’t dare question orders, hence, it had never occurred to me to ask for any identification cards from the men; I didn’t want to get into any trouble.’ A case has been filed with the Paltan Thana. The OC of Paltan Thana, Farid Ahmed said that investigations are underway, but no suspects were yet to be identified as of the December 3, five days since the infamous robbery took place. Although the police could not report of any development in the investigation, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner, Naim Ahmed tells New Age that the Detective Branch has been additionally assigned to work on the case. With the enduring state of emergency and the monopoly power shared by the RAB and Army, civilians are living under a constant fear of the supposedly invincible authority. In the process, criminals or robbers are performing such atrocious crimes, taking full advantage of the civilian’s vulnerability.