Kamrul Hasan: A daring robbery took place in the goldsmith area of Manikganj town on Saturday (October 4) night. Armed robbers broke into a jewelry shop named Abhi Alankar, stabbed the owner, and looted around 22 bhori (about 257 grams) of gold ornaments. The injured owner, Shubho Das (35), was rescued by locals and admitted to the Manikganj 250-bed General Hospital.

Shubho Das is the son of Kartik Das from Mahadebpur village under Shibaloy upazila.

According to local sources, the incident occurred around 12:15 a.m. while Shubho was working inside his shop. Two masked assailants entered the store, held a weapon to his neck, and broke open the locker. They looted approximately 22 bhori of gold ornaments, valued at around 3.6 million taka. When Shubho tried to resist, the robbers attacked him with a sharp weapon and fled the scene, leaving him seriously injured.

Upon receiving the news, police from Manikganj Sadar Police Station rushed to the spot and launched an investigation.

Officer-in-Charge (OC) SM Aman Ullah said,

> “We started the investigation immediately after the incident. CCTV footage has been collected, and drives are underway to identify and arrest those involved.”

Meanwhile, on Sunday morning around 11 a.m., gold traders in Manikganj shut down their shops and staged a protest march demanding the arrest of the culprits. Later, they submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner and formed a human chain in front of the DC office.

Speakers at the human chain included Tapon Kumar Nag, President of the Bangladesh Jewellers Association (BAJUS) Manikganj District Unit; Mahidul Islam, General Secretary; Shyamal Das, Senior Joint Secretary; Swastik Kumar, and Ganesh Ghosh, among others.

In their speeches, the leaders said, “The culprits involved in the robbery and the attack on the shop owner must be arrested and punished immediately. Until the traders’ safety is ensured, we will keep all jewelry shops closed indefinitely.”

Due to the protest, all shops in the town’s goldsmith area remained closed, creating a tense situation in the locality since morning.