DHAKA — Police have arrested a housemaid in connection with a series of thefts in the capital’s Uttara area in which homeowners were drugged before being robbed of cash and gold, the Police Bureau of Investigation said.
Bilkis Begum, the prime suspect, has given a confessional statement in court, the PBI’s Dhaka Metro (North) unit said in a news release on Monday, April 27.
On Feb. 17, in the Uttara West police station area, a housemaid fed an intoxicating substance to her employer, killing him and fleeing with cash and a large amount of gold jewelry, the release said. Investigators found that the case bore behavioral and tactical similarities to an earlier incident.
On Oct. 13 of last year, an unidentified woman met with Md. Jakir, the caretaker at the home of one Md. Ibnul Alam Palash in Sector 4 of Uttara, about a domestic worker job. The homeowner and his wife hired her as a housemaid and asked her to bring her national ID card. She joined the next day but did not bring the ID. While the homeowner and his wife were at work, she mixed an anesthetic substance into a snack for the homeowner’s elderly mother, Roushanara Begum, leaving her unconscious. She then stole the woman’s jewelry and cash and fled.
Ibnul Alam filed a case at Uttara East police station against the unidentified suspect. Station police investigated for several months but could not identify the suspect and filed a final report in court. The court on its own motion ordered the PBI to investigate further. Sub-Inspector Firoz Ahmed Munshi of PBI Dhaka Metro (North) is currently handling the case.
As the PBI investigation continued, the Feb. 17 incident occurred in the Uttara West police station area, in which a housemaid drugged and killed her employer before stealing cash and gold jewelry. Investigators found behavioral and tactical similarities to the earlier case.
After analyzing technology data and CCTV footage, PBI investigators identified Bilkis Begum, 40, who had been arrested in the earlier murder case, as a suspect. She was shown arrested in this case and sought for police remand. The court granted four days of remand on April 19. She was taken into custody on April 22, when she admitted involvement during questioning.
Based on her information, a PBI operations team conducted a raid in Gazipur and located a woman named Shahrbanu involved in the case, along with a jewelry shop where the stolen gold had been sold.
Bilkis Begum gave a confessional statement under Section 164 in court. Shahrbanu and jewelers Gobinda Ghosh and Rupa Sarkar provided detailed testimony as witnesses.
The PBI investigation and her statement found that Bilkis hid her identity, took the housemaid job at the victim’s son’s home, and while the homeowner and his wife were absent, drugged the elderly victim, Roushanara Begum, by mixing an anesthetic into a snack. She then stole the woman’s jewelry and cash, took them to her rented home in Gazipur and sold them through her acquaintance Shahrbanu.
Deputy Inspector General Md. Enayet Hossain Mannan, head of PBI Dhaka Metro (North), said: “PBI is a modern, technology-based investigation agency. We are determined to bring offenders to justice no matter who they are.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report