Security guards tied up, Tk 2 crore goods looted from power plant

A case of looting goods worth Tk 2 crore was reported from a sub-power plant under construction in Natore's Baraigram upazila. Police and local sources said that an organized gang of robbers carried out the looting for a long time while tying up security personnel.

The incident took place at the power plant under construction on the Natore-Banpara highway in the Banpara area from 7:30pm to 1:30am on Wednesday (March 26).

According to information from the police and project officials, first two people in plain clothes entered the substation and observed the situation inside. After a while, they took out weapons and tied up three security personnel hostage. Later, another security personnel was called and tied up in the same way.

Then, during the night, an organized group of 40-45 people entered the substation in a truck. They beat up the security personnel, locked them in a room and started looting important components of the power project.

The looted goods included copper electrical wires, various types of equipment, CCTV cameras and welding machines, along with valuable equipment. The project authorities said the total market value of these goods is more than 19.26 million taka.

Workers or engineers were not present in the project area at the time of the incident due to the Eid holidays. It is believed that the robbers took advantage of this opportunity to loot for a long time and take away the goods in trucks.

Security guard Shafiqul Islam said that first two people came and searched for the workers. Later, a few more came and tied everyone up with weapons. They were beaten and locked in a room and later a large number of people came in a truck and took away the equipment.

After the incident, the security guards somehow freed themselves and called the emergency service number 999 to report the matter. Later, Bangladesh Police reached the spot, brought the situation under control and started an investigation.

Senior officials of Natore District Police visited the spot and started a preliminary investigation on Thursday morning (March 27).

Anas Rahman, the deputy assistant engineer in charge of the project, said that a list of all the looted goods has been prepared. The damage is estimated at around Tk 20 million. Preparations are underway to file a case in this incident.