150 More Sacks of Sugar Recovered in Tk 1.6 Million Robbery Case in Patiya

Police have recovered another 150 sacks of sugar from Chakaria in Cox’s Bazar in connection with the theft of sugar worth Tk 1.6 million in Patiya, Chattogram. The sugar was recovered around 4am on Friday, October 23, from a closed tailoring shop in the Nonachhari area of Harbang Union in Chakaria.

Earlier, 134 sacks of sugar were recovered from a warehouse at Aziznagar Bazar in Lama upazila of Bandarban on Wednesday night. With the latest recovery, 284 of the 300 stolen sacks have been recovered.

Police sent covered van driver Mohammad Alamgir to court on Friday morning after showing him arrested in the case. On Thursday, the owner of the sugar, Mohammad Sirajul Islam, filed a case with Patiya Police Station. The case names driver Alamgir and Rahat Uddin Jewel, a grocery shopkeeper at Aziznagar Bazar, as accused.

Police suspect that Alamgir may have staged the theft as part of a plan to misappropriate 15 tonnes, or 300 sacks, of sugar by selling them through accomplices. Investigators also suspect that Rahat Uddin Jewel, owner of Rajib Store at Aziznagar Bazar, purchased the sugar below market price and sold it to local grocery shops. Acting on a tip-off, police recovered 134 sacks from Jewel’s warehouse. He reportedly fled after learning about the operation.

Earlier, at around 5:30pm on Wednesday, the covered van was found abandoned in front of the newly constructed Karnaphuli Upazila building on the Chattogram-Anwara road near the Shikalbaha crossing on the Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar highway.

Patiya Police Station’s Officer-in-Charge (Investigation), Jujutsu Yash Chakma, said police recovered 150 sacks of sugar from a closed shop in the Nonachhari area of Harbang Union early Friday based on confidential information. The shop is owned by a person named Russell.

The case statement accuses driver Alamgir of conspiring with the other accused to misappropriate the sugar. Police are investigating the incident.