HC transfers case to RAB

The High Court on Monday ordered the Home Affairs Secretary and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to
transfer the Kishoreganj Sonali Bank burglary case to Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) within 48 hours for investigation. An HC bench comprising Justice Kazi Rezaul Haque and Justice ABM Altaf Hossain passed the order after hearing on a writ filed by advocate Asaduzzaman Siddique.
The court also issued a rule asking why the main culprits of the bank robbery case would not be brought to book. The Secretary of the Home Affairs Ministry, the IGP and the Director General of RAB have been made respondents to the rule, returnable within two weeks.
Following reports published in two national dailies hinting at extremists’ connections in the burglary, advocated Asaduzzaman Siddique filed the writ petition seeking an HC order to transfer the case to RAB for investigation.
Earlier, on January 26, burglars tunneled into the vault of Sonali Bank’s main branch in the district town and looted about Tk 16.40 crore. Eight policemen who were on duty at the bank branch during the burglary were suspended on charge of neglect of duty. On January 28, three people, including the prime suspect in the Kishoreganj Sonali Bank burglary case, were arrested along with the looted money from Shyampur Balurmath area in the capital.