3 members of law enforcement, 1 other arrested over robbery near airport

Police have arrested four individuals, including three members of law enforcement, in connection with a robbery that took place near the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.  

The arrestees are RAB headquarters employees Md Maksud, Iqbal Hossain, DMP transport section staff Pushidar Hossain, and marketing officer at Diamond Builders Asadul Haque.  

Confirming the arrests, Inspector (investigation) of the Dhaka airport Police Station Mostafizur Rahman said, "The accused have been produced before the court today with a plea for a three-day remand."  

The hearing is yet to conclude as of filing this report at 2:30pm.

Earlier on Monday (2 December), the robbery took place when Najmul Hossain, a Shariatpur resident, was allegedly attacked near the airport. He had gone there to collect mobile phones sent from Malaysia.  

"A group of people surrounded me and forcefully took the bag containing the phones. As they fled, their car hit a passerby," he claimed.

Acting on a tip-off, the Armed Police Battalion (APBn) pursued the vehicle and intercepted it in front of the Civil Aviation Authority's headquarters. 

The stolen mobile phones were later recovered, and the vehicle was seized.  

Yesterday, Inspector Mohammad Julhash Uddin of the Airport Armed Police Battalion filed a case with the Airport Police Station against seven individuals, including two unnamed suspects.  

According to the case statement, three of the accused, including Shahidul Islam, an assistant editor of a Bangla newspaper and the registered owner of the seized vehicle, remain at large.  

"Shahidul was reportedly in the car during the incident but managed to evade arrest," said Mostafizur Rahman. 

"Operations are ongoing to arrest the remaining accused," he added.