Bankers term it unusual

Banking professionals described Tuesday's grisly bank heist in Ashulia as a very unusual incident that appears to be more of a militant attack than a robbery.
The robbery marked by killing of eight people and use of powerful explosives is likely to have serious ramifications in the banking sector, especially on the issue of security.
The central bank has written to the police chief seeking more security for banks and their branches across the country, and launched a probe to ascertain whether there was any possible security flaw at the Ashulia branch of Bangladesh Commerce Bank Ltd (BCBL).
A gang of 8-10 robbers attacked the bank soon after the lunch break on Tuesday, looted around Tk 7 lakh and killed seven people, including the branch manager and two armed security guards. Three robbers were later caught while fleeing and one of them was beaten to death by an angry mob.

AN UNPRECEDENTED ATTACK
“I joined the banking profession 52 years ago but never saw any robbery so daring as this one until now," former deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank Khondker Ibrahim Khaled told The Daily Star.
No such attacks on a bank took place even during the Liberation War, he said.
Echoing Ibrahim Khaled, Bangladesh Bank's Deputy Governor SK Sur Chowdhury and BCBL Chairman Yousuf Ali Hawlader said they never even heard of such a bloody attack on a bank in broad daylight.
At a press conference yesterday, SK Sur Chowdhury said the banks have their own security system to prevent common robbery and theft. But if robbers use modern weapons, bombs and grenades, it can only be resisted by the law enforcement agencies.
The central bank has sent an inspection team to the BCBL's Ashulia branch to see if there were any security lapses. If any fault on the bank's part is found, necessary actions will be taken against the people responsible, he added.

ROBBERY OR EXTREMIST ATTACK?
Ibrahim Khaled thinks the way the attack was carried out suggests that it might be an extremist attack aimed at creating an anarchic situation in the country.
Similar concerns were voiced by a senior police official.
"The robbers used hand grenades, crude bombs, firearms and cleavers. These are usually used by militant groups. So, we suspect militants' links with the heist,” Superintendent of Police Habibur Rahman of Dhaka said at a press conference yesterday.
BB Deputy Governor SK Sur Chowdhury said criminals usually break into bank vaults at night or rob people at gunpoint when they exit banks with money, unlike the Ashulia incident.
However, only police, not the central bank, can uncover whether the criminals wanted to loot the bank or commit a terrorist act or murder, he added.
The BCBL's Ashulia branch had around Tk 35 lakh in its vault and Tk 5 lakh from there was moved to cash section on Tuesday for the day's transactions, according to an official of the branch.
"Apart from this, clients deposited some more money into their accounts. This means there was around Tk 7 lakh in the cash counters," he said, wishing anonymity.
BCBL Chairman Hawlader said around Tk 93,000 was missing after the heist, according to their primary estimate. But later police recovered around Tk 6 lakh, taking the total money looted to around Tk 7 lakh.
"There was no big transaction scheduled for Tuesday. Why did such a daring robbery took place in broad daylight for such a small amount of money? We are at a loss," BCBL Managing Director Abu Sadek Md Sohel said.

GOVERNOR SEEKS MORE SECURITY
BB Governor Atiur Rahman yesterday wrote a letter requesting the Inspector General of Police to bolster security for bank branches.
Terming the Ashulia incident "heart-rending and a threat to the banking sector", he also requested the police chief to issue necessary orders to police stations to establish hotlines with the local bank branches to ensure proper security for the branches.
There are more than 9,000 branches of different banks across the country now.
SK Sur Chowdhury said the central bank will ask the police to set up hotlines with at least the important branches if not with all of them.