Robbers hack bKash worker with machete in daylight, snatch Tk 6 lakh in Kachua

In Kachua of Bagerhat, a sales worker of a distributor of the mobile banking service (MFS) bKash, Bachchu Sheikh, was hacked with a machete and his bag of cash was snatched.

The incident took place on Sunday (8 November) at around 12:45 pm near the roundabout at Signboard Mor in Kachua upazila. Officials of the organisation said the snatched bag contained about Tk 6 lakh in cash.

The victim, Bachchu Sheikh, is a DSO (distribution sales officer) of Javed Enterprise, the bKash distributor in Bagerhat.

Eyewitnesses said the bKash DSO was crossing the road when five unidentified men arriving on two motorcycles cornered him in the middle of the road and pulled at the bag he was carrying. Bachchu refused to let go of the bag and began shouting, 'Robbers, robbers!' The robbers then took out machetes from a bag they were carrying and moved to hack him. They also frightened people nearby by brandishing the machetes.

At one point the robbers struck Bachchu, and as he tried to move away he fell onto the road. The robbers then took his bag and fled on their motorcycles towards the Badhal-Pirojpur road.

Md. Humayun Kabir Kudrati, general manager of Javed Enterprise, the bKash distributor, said their DSOs supply cash and e-money to bKash agents (shopkeepers). Like every day, on Sunday morning Bachchu Sheikh took money from the office and went to Signboard Bazar. After completing transactions at a few shops on the way, he reached the market, parked his motorcycle and completed a transaction at a shop.

Then, while crossing the road to go to another shop, the miscreants on two motorcycles tried to snatch his bag. When Bachchu tried to hold on to the bag, they moved to hack him with a machete. He fell on the road and suffered minor abrasions. Even after he had fallen, the robbers moved to hack him with the machete. They then snatched the bag from him and left on the two motorcycles.

The general manager said the bag contained approximately Tk 6 lakh in cash, though the exact amount could vary slightly as transactions had been made. Such an incident in broad daylight has caused widespread alarm and panic among local people. Police went to the scene after receiving the news.

Md. Al Mamun, officer-in-charge of Kachua Police Station in Bagerhat, said police visited the scene after hearing the news and took statements from eyewitnesses. Footage from CCTV cameras in the area is being analysed, and legal action will be taken.

Two months ago, in a similar fashion, miscreants arriving on motorcycles snatched a bag containing more than Tk 2 lakh from a bKash DSO at gunpoint in the Heramer Mor area of Bhadrapara village in Bemrata union of Bagerhat Sadar upazila.

On 28 October, a sales representative of Banglalink was hacked and his cash and office bag snatched at Puratan Mazar Mor in Bagerhat Sadar. On 1 September, a man carrying Tk 6 lakh from Dutch-Bangla Bank in Bagerhat was robbed on his way to the Jatrapur agent banking point by men posing as Detective Branch (DB) police.

In the past two months, more than 10 robberies have taken place in various upazilas of the district, including Chitalmari.