Security Guard Arrested Following Seventeen-Lakh Taka Bank Booth Theft

A security guard has been apprehended by the police after using a duplicate key to steal 17 lakh BDT from an Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC booth located on the campus of the International Islamic University Chittagong (IIUC) in Sitakunda. The suspect took advantage of a brief lunch break taken by the bank official in charge to siphon off the funds. Despite fleeing across the country, his escape was short-lived as law enforcement tracking technology located him within days.

The accused security staff member has been identified as 56-year-old Ayub Ali, a resident of the Baidyerghona area within Ward No. 8 of Cox’s Bazar Sadar Upazila. Following his arrest in Rangpur on Saturday, a magistrates’ court on Sunday ordered him to be remanded in custody and sent to jail pending further investigation.

Audacious Afternoon Theft During Lunch Break

According to the case statement, the booth operates under the administrative jurisdiction of the Islami Bank Chawkbazar branch and primarily serves as a collection point for student tuition and institutional fees. On Wednesday afternoon, around 3:00 pm, the designated bank official, Mohammad Moinul Islam, locked the booth to go for lunch at the university canteen.

When Islam returned roughly half an hour later and sat down to perform a routine tally of the cash reserves, he discovered that 17 bundles of 1,000-Taka notes—totaling 17 lakh BDT—were missing from the cash drawer. Following the immediate notification of local authorities, investigators reviewed internal closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage. The recordings clearly captured Ayub Ali using a duplicate key to open the booth shortly after the official departed. He then emptied the cash drawer into a tissue bag and left the campus grounds immediately.

Nationwide Manhunt and Cash Recovery

Following the incident, Moinul Islam filed a formal criminal complaint on Friday at the Sitakunda Police Station, naming Ali as the sole accused. The Sitakunda police initially dispatched a detective team to search the suspect’s ancestral home in Cox’s Bazar. Discovering he had already fled the district, officers used mobile tracking and information technology to pinpoint his coordinates over 500 kilometres away in the northern district of Rangpur.

A specialised police team conducted a raid in Rangpur Sadar on Saturday, arresting Ali and recovering 14,48,828 BDT of the stolen funds from his possession. Md Mohinul Islam, the officer-in-charge (OC) of the Sitakunda Police Station, confirmed that the suspect confessed to the theft during initial interrogation, admitting he had spent the missing balance of approximately 2.15 lakh BDT on travel and logistical arrangements during his escape. Investigators are currently checking financial transactions to determine if any accomplices inside or outside the university network aided the suspect in acquiring the duplicate keys.