TDS Desk

Seven to eight robbers on Thursday night allegedly fled with 70 bhories of gold and cash Tk 4 lakh firing shots at a jewelry trader at Hazaribagh in the capital.

The incident happened at Hazaribagh Beribandh area at about 11:00pm on Thursday (January 23).

Police say a gang of seven to eight robbers arriving by five motorcycles waylaid the jewelry trader, shot him in the leg, and fled with his bag of gold.

The trader, Sajal Rajbangshi, 38, was rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital with serious injuries. There, he was given first aid and then referred to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital, said Inspector Md Faruk, head of the DMCH Police Outpost.

Sajal is the owner of ‘Eti Jewellers’ at Kamrangirchar and lives in Hazaribagh’s Jelepara area.

Joy Rajbangshi, younger brother of him, said Sajal was heading home on motorcycle after closing the shop for the night with the money and the gold in a bag.

“When he reached the Beribandh area, a group of four to five men waylaid him and fired blank shots. They then shot him in the left leg, snatched his bag, and fled. We brought him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital with injuries.”

Joy said after receiving first aid, Sajal was shifted to a private hospital for advanced treatment.

Sajal’s jewellery store is housed in Ilham Plaza in Kamrangirchar, according to Amirul Islam, OC of Kamrangirchar Police Station. He would come to the store with gold and money from his home in Hazaribagh every day.”

He said Sajal had been heading home when he was stopped, shot in the leg, and robbed by a group of men on motorcycles.

“We have made inquiries and found that three people with three motorcycles had been waiting in the Beribandh Traffic Box area for at least an hour before the incident occurred. When the gold trader’s motorcycle arrived, the three motorcycles got ahead of him while four others came up on two motorcycles behind him.”

“Once they reached the spot where the incident occurred, the motorcycles in front blocked the road, forcing him to slow. Immediately some of them got off, shot him, and snatched his bag.”

A case has been filed over the incident on Friday morning, OC Amirul said.

There were no CCTV cameras at the scene of the incident, he said.

“But we are trying to collect CC camera footage from nearby and identify the culprits.”