STAFF CORRESPONDENT

Around 500 bhoris of gold ornaments were reportedly looted in a daring burglary at a jewellery shop inside Fortune Shopping Mall in Dhaka’s Mouchak area early yesterday.

The incident took place around 3:00am at Shampa Jewellers, located on the first floor of the mall.

CCTV footage shows two members of a gang, wearing burqas, entering the market, cutting through the shutter lock, and looting the gold ornaments, shop owner Achintyo Kumar Biswas told The Daily Star.

The burglars had covered their faces to avoid identification.

He said the shop had around 400 bhoris of gold ornaments on display and another 100 bhoris kept as mortgaged gold, along with around Tk 40,000 in cash.

“The burglars took everything, including the cash,” he said.

“I closed my shop around 9:00pm as usual and went home. Early in the morning, the market’s security guard called me, saying there was a problem at my shop. When I rushed there, I saw everything was gone,” said Achintyo.

The shop owner alleged that someone inside the shopping mall might have been involved in the theft.

“The security guards of the market are definitely involved. Such looting is not possible without inside help,” he said.

“I have nothing left of what I earned in the last 20 years. I don’t know how I will survive and maintain my family. I want the law enforcers to recover my gold,” he said in a choked voice.

Talking to reporters, Tamjid Khan, organising secretary of the shop owners’ association of the market, claimed that there was no lack of security measures and that security guards were on duty at the market.

“It is an accident that happened for the first time,” he said, adding that they would review CCTV footage to determine what the guards were doing at the time.

Mazharul Islam, assistant commissioner of Ramna Zone, said, “The owner alleged that around 500 bhoris of gold were stolen from the shop, and we are investigating it.”

Filing of a case is underway and no one was arrested so far, said Sub-inspector Nasima Akter, duty officer of Ramna Police Station.