At Least Fifty People Were Tied Up and Robbed in Barishal's Torki Bondor

A heinous robbery has taken place at a market called Raipatti in the Torki Bondor of Gournadi, a border upazila of Barisal district. Armed robbers tied up about half a hundred people, including market guards, robbed them for hours and fled in a trawler.

In the early hours of Sunday (August 15th), the robbers took about Tk 3 million in cash and 35 cartons of cigarettes from 13 businesses, according to the affected traders. However, after a long time of the incident, the police could not arrest anyone.

According to eyewitnesses and market traders, armed gangs of 25-30 people raided the Torki Bondor of Raipatti with trawlers on the waterway. At the beginning, they took six night guards of the market hostage at gunpoint and tied their hands and feet. Later, traders, workers and pedestrians were also tied up and robbed.

Witnesses added that most of the robbers were wearing shirts, pants, T-shirts and masks. After the robbery, at around 4am in the morning, the robbers split into two groups and escaped unharmed through the Palordi river with the help of a trawler. On the way, the robbers beat several pedestrians in the market and created panic.

Port trader Sahidul Islam said, "There was a weekly Bazar in the Torki Bondor on Friday. As the bank was closed on Saturday, the traders kept the cash in their respective shops. The bandits took advantage of that opportunity.