JHENAIDAH — Thieves broke into the Kaliganj upazila land office in Jhenaidah overnight Wednesday and stole 300,000 taka, officials said.
The thieves broke through the rear window of the office of office assistant Tapan Kumar Ray and made off with the cash, officials said. At some point during the night, they also broke a CCTV camera at the office.
Office process server Emdadul Haque filed a general diary at Kaliganj police station on Thursday over the incident. Show-cause notices have also been issued to three people. Because of a staff shortage, Tapan Kumar Ray has been performing additional duties as the custodian of seized property and nazir alongside his job as office assistant.
According to the general diary, the office was closed and the staff left around 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 19. “When I came to the office the next day, Thursday, I learned that Office Assistant Tapan Kumar Ray’s room was locked from the inside. Despite many attempts, the door could not be opened. Going around to the back of the office, we saw a broken window. The land officer was then informed. After the room was opened, we saw that the cabinet drawer had been broken open and about 300,000 taka had been taken.”
Arju Ahmed, the night guard on duty that day, said: “I am a kidney patient. The medication makes me sleepy. That night I fell asleep after 2 a.m. When the office locks were opened around 9 a.m., the room could not be opened. That is when we realized the office had been burgled.”
Office Assistant Tapan Kumar Ray said: “Like every day, I closed the office that evening and left. When I came to the office in the morning and unlocked the door, I found it locked from the inside. Then, going around back, we saw that a window had been broken.”
Kaliganj police station Officer-in-Charge Shafiqul Islam said: “A general diary has been filed over the theft, and an investigation is under way. We hope to know more about the theft soon.”
Mohammad Shahin Alam, the Kaliganj upazila assistant commissioner for land, said: “After learning of the incident, senior authorities were informed. Show-cause notices have been issued to Office Assistant Tapan Kumar Ray, night guards Shahiduzzaman and Arju Ahmed. At the same time, a general diary has been filed with the police. The police have inspected the scene and are working on the matter.”
The office had previously been the scene of similar incidents, including a theft of 100,000 taka from a drawer, the theft of 80,000 taka in cash through a broken window, and the theft of a motorcycle. The land officers in charge at the time did not take any legal action over those incidents.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report