Robbers posing as police loot Buddhist monastery in Chattogram

Robbers, allegedly posing as police officials, looted a Buddhist monastery in Boalkhali upazila of Chattogram today (19 January).

The incident took place at the Pragyabansha Bidarshan Bhavna Kendra in the Baruar Tech area of Ward-5 of Shakpura area in the upazila around 2:00am in the night. 

Till 8:00pm on Friday, no official case had been registered over the incident, Sub-inspector Mohammad Musa of Boalkhali Police Station told The Business Standard confirming the robbery.

"Upon receiving the information, I visited the scene at night. Police have initiated efforts to identify those involved in the incident," he said.

According to monastery authorities, the robbers, armed and masked, took the residents of the monastery hostage at gunpoint, making off with Tk60,000 in cash from an almirah, an IPS battery, a mobile phone, and gold ornaments designated for donations. They also took money from the donation box,

 "Four of us were sleeping when, around 1:30 am, the robbers forcibly entered by breaking the lock of the main door. The intruders proceeded to target the donation box, broke the lock to retrieve the money, and then forcibly entered individual rooms, claiming to be policemen," 

Srilapriya Mahather, principal of the monastery, told The Business Standard.

"They took the attendants hostage and asked them to open the doors. There were four of them, armed and one wearing a mask. They later took the attendants to my room, held all of us hostage at gunpoint, and searched for money and valuables,"he added.

Srilapriya Mahather added, "After ransacking my room, the robbers proceeded to the room of the Vice-principal Anand Bhiksu. The vice-principal was forced to open the door, whereupon the assailants looted the almirah, on the pretext of looking for Yaba drugs."

"The robbers made off with money and gold ornaments from the vice-principal's room after locking everyone in a room", he further said.

The Officer-in-Charge of Boalkhali Police Station, Ashraf Uddin did not answer phone calls from the TBS correspondent seeking comment on the issue.  

This incident follows a similar robbery that occurred on December 29 at Shah Amanat Bhawan in Ward No. 4 of Shakpura Union. The modus operandi in both cases involved perpetrators posing as police officers, targeting multiple houses and causing losses amounting to Tk.10-12 lakh for seven affected families.

In another incident on Wednesday night, a man looted the Donation Box from a Mosque in the Saroatali area of the upazila.

Despite being different locations, locals suspect that the same group of robbers is responsible for the incidents, raising concerns about the audacity and frequency of such criminal activities in the region. Authorities are intensifying efforts to identify and apprehend the criminals involved in these daring robberies.