A gang of armed and masked robbers raided the residence of a retired senior police official in Mirsarai, Chattogram, holding family members hostage before fleeing with valuables estimated at approximately Tk 17 lakh.
The brazen midnight robbery occurred at roughly 2:30 am on Friday, 9 October, in the Sheikhertaluk neighbourhood of Middle Wahedpur village, situated under the Wahedpur Union.
According to the victim, Matin Ullah, a retired Assistant Superintendent of Police (Armed), a group of 10 to 12 masked men broke down the front door of his residence in the early hours of the morning. Brandishing weapons, the intruders swiftly held all family members hostage at gunpoint, effectively thwarting any immediate attempt to raise an alarm or call for assistance.
The perpetrators then conducted a thorough search of the premises, breaking open wardrobes and forcibly removing gold ornaments worn by the female members of the household. The stolen jewellery amounted to five bhoris and eight anas (approximately 64 grams).
Beyond gold and liquid cash, the gang methodically targeted electronics, taking measures to hinder any immediate digital tracing or local surveillance retrieval. They dismantled and carried away the central closed-circuit television (CCTV) monitoring unit, the home’s Wi-Fi router, a personal desktop computer complete with its central processing unit (CPU) and monitor, two smartphones, one feature phone, and Tk 40,000 in cash. The victim estimated the cumulative value of the looted assets at nearly Tk 17 lakh.
Upon receiving news of the crime, officers from Mirsarai Police Station, led by Officer-in-Charge (OC) Farida Yasmin alongside Inspector Bipul Karmakar, in-charge of the Nijampur Police Outpost, inspected the scene later that night.
“We visited the site immediately after receiving information about the robbery,” stated Inspector Bipul Karmakar. He confirmed that law enforcement agencies are actively attempting to identify and apprehend those involved, though no formal case had been registered at the time of reporting. Matin Ullah indicated that preparations are currently underway to file an official case with the local police station to initiate a full investigation.
The violent intrusion into a private residence in the dead of night has raised significant security concerns across the local community. The calculated removal of the CCTV monitoring hardware highlights a deliberate attempt by the culprits to destroy visual evidence, presenting a challenge for forensic investigators. Police have not yet clarified whether external surveillance footage from neighbouring properties is available or whether any family members sustained physical injuries during the ordeal. Law enforcement officials maintain that operations are ongoing to track down the suspects, recover the stolen property, and determine whether local criminal networks assisted in the raid.
