Gold Ornaments Worth Crores Stolen from Demra Home During Eid Visit

In a daring burglary, thieves broke into a house in Dhaka’s Muslimnagar, Demra, by cutting window grills, stealing gold ornaments worth approximately one crore taka. The incident occurred at the residence of young businessman Asif while he was away visiting his in-laws in Munshiganj with his wife and parents during Eid-ul-Adha.

Asif resides with his family on the third floor of a six-story building in Muslimnagar. On June 9, two days after Eid, he left for Munshiganj with his wife and mother, Khaleda Akter. Returning home on June 10 around 8 PM with his mother, Asif found the door lock intact but the house in disarray. Clothes were scattered across the drawing room floor.

Khaleda discovered her bedroom almirah broken open. The bag of gold ornaments she had hidden in a secret compartment was missing, prompting her to break down in tears. Asif, trying to console her, checked his own bedroom and found it similarly ransacked, with the almirah lock broken and his wife’s gold ornaments gone. Another almirah in the house was also tampered with, and the hidden bag of gold there was stolen too. In total, 60 bhoris of gold—28 bhoris belonging to Asif’s wife, 21 bhoris to his mother, 4.5 bhoris to his grandmother, and 6.5 bhoris to his aunt—along with 5 lakh taka in cash were stolen. Asif later noticed that a window grill in another third-floor bedroom had been cut, likely the entry point for the thieves. Devastated, he called his wife in Munshiganj to inform her of the burglary. She rushed back to Demra that night and, upon confirming the loss, broke down in tears. Khaleda, overcome with emotion, joined her daughter-in-law in grief. Speaking to Prothom Alo, Asif said, “Going to my in-laws’ during Eid turned out to be a disaster. I never imagined thieves would cut the grills and break in while we were away.” He detailed the loss, stating that the stolen gold was worth around one crore taka. He also noted that the CCTV camera at the building’s entrance was malfunctioning, unknown to them, and no cameras covered the rear window where the thieves entered. **Police Investigation Yields No Breakthrough** Three days after the burglary, on June 13, Asif filed a case against unidentified persons at Demra Police Station. However, nearly a month later, the police have neither identified the culprits nor recovered the stolen gold, leaving Asif and his family deeply frustrated. “It’s been so long, and the police haven’t caught anyone. My wife and mother are heartbroken, and my mother often cries over the loss,” Asif told Prothom Alo, expressing disappointment over the lack of progress. On the night of the burglary, Asif called the national emergency number 999. Demra police arrived after 10 PM, took photos of the cut grill, and recorded details of the stolen 60 bhoris of gold and 5 lakh taka in cash. Demra Police Station’s Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md. Mahmudur Rahman told Prothom Alo that the investigation is ongoing with priority. They have obtained CCTV footage from a nearby location showing a young man’s presence, which is being analyzed to identify him and track down the thieves. Asif and his family remain distressed, anxiously awaiting the recovery of their stolen valuables.