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Four people, including three members of the Bawm ethnic minority, have been arrested over the bank robberies in Bandarban’s Ruma and Thanchi Upazilas. A SUV has also been seized.
Three of them were arrested from the Reicha Checkpost area of the Bandarban-Chattogram road on Sunday night, while the fourth was arrested from Thanchi’s T&T Para on Monday afternoon, said Bandarban police in a statement on Monday.
The detainees have been identified as Bhannu Nuam Bawm from Roangchhari Upazila’s Sadar Union, Jimineu Bawm and Ame Loncheo Bawm from Thanchi’s Sadar Upazila’s Singthalangi Para, and Kafil Uddin from Thanchi Sadar Union’s T&T Para.
Jimineu and Ame Loncheo are brothers and sisters. They are currently being interrogated.
Bandarban police said Kafil was the driver of a white Volvo jeep used during the Thanchi bank robberies. He has been taken to court.
The arrestees are members of the Kuki-Chin National Front or KNF, the police said in their statement. They were accused in the Thanchi bank robbery incidents.
On Apr 2, over 100 men attacked the Sonali Bank branch in Ruma Upazila's Sadar area. As many as 20 people, including bank officials and security personnel, were assaulted, and the branch's manager, Nezam Uddin, was abducted.
The following day, a group of armed robbers looted the Thanchi branches of the Bangladesh Krishi Bank and Sonali Bank. They took Tk 208,000 from Krishi Bank and Tk 1.50 million from Sonali Bank.
The robbers also opened fire near the banks to spread panic among the locals during the heist.
On Thursday night, Ruma's Sonali Bank Manager Nezam Uddin was rescued by the Rapid Action Battalion. An hour-long gunfight broke out between the police and the armed men in Thanchi following his rescue.
The Kuki-Chin National Front, also known as the Bawm Party, has been accused of involvement in the attacks.
Six cases have been filed over the attacks.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina instructed the chief of the armed forces to conduct joint raids against the KNF, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told the media on Saturday after an inspection in Bandarban.
On Sunday, the Rapid Action Battalion arrested an individual named Cheusim Bawm.
The RAB described Cheusim as “the chief coordinator and chief advisor of the KNF in its early stages and one of the advisors in the deplorable events that took place a few days ago”.