Police suspect IT expert hand in Barisal crimes

A few IT techies have apparently ganged up with organised criminals and pulled off some of the most daring robberies in Barisal city over the last few days. The fact came to light when a suspect was arrested for a brazen robbery at Incepta Pharmaceuticals Ltd and Incepta Hygiene and Hospicare Ltd at C & B Road on the night of March 5. Over Tk. 90 lakh was looted and property damaged. The gang ransacked all 24 lockers in 12 rooms of the three-storied office building, damaged CCTV cameras, looted devices, and ransacked all computers for about three hours. After interrogating 27 people, the police suspected that IT experts were involved in the crime. Soon afterwards, the Barisal Metropolitan Police (BMP) succeeded in arresting Shek Shahidul Alam Pintu, the suspected mastermind, from Mehendigang area of the district. Pintu had been convicted in a robbery case earlier and had recently walked out of jail after 11 years.
During interrogation Pintu apparently said that most of the other gang members were also history-sheeters. They had similarly been convicted in different cases and had walked out of jail recently. According to Pintu, they had planned the robberies while still in jail. They apparently hired IT experts from Khulna to destroy all the technological systems of Incepta before carrying out the heist. Police have reportedly got the names and addresses of eight members of the gang.
In another case, the Detective Branch of Barisal District Police arrested three members of a cheating gang on April 17. The gang, which had a unique modus operandi, allegedly used four mobile phones in their operation. Two of them would pose as the communication minister and the RAB DG and cheat people out of their money. Police suspected the involvement of an IT expert in this crime, too. District police superintendent SM Akhtaruzzaman said that in recent times, criminal gangs seem to be having easy access to IT expertise. With their IT knowledge, techies know how to avoid police tracking systems. SM Akhtaruzzaman also said that around 150 criminals, divided into several gangs, are active in the region. They are apparently backed by a ‘godfather’, who has several IT experts on his payroll. Abu Syed, the spokesman for BMP, however, said that no IT experts are involved, but the criminals are being trained in IT activities like damaging the function of CCTV cameras. He added that times and technology have changed the mode of crime, and police also need to be trained accordingly to take on such criminals.

Police suspect IT expert hand in Barisal crimes

A few IT techies have apparently ganged up with organised criminals and pulled off some of the most daring robberies in Barisal city over the last few days. The fact came to light when a suspect was arrested for a brazen robbery at Incepta Pharmaceuticals Ltd and Incepta Hygiene and Hospicare Ltd at C B Road on the night of March 5. Over Tk. 90 lakh was looted and property damaged. The gang ransacked all 24 lockers in 12 rooms of the three-storied office building, damaged CCTV cameras, looted devices, and ransacked all computers for about three hours. After interrogating 27 people, the police suspected that IT experts were involved in the crime. Soon afterwards, the Barisal Metropolitan Police (BMP) succeeded in arresting Shek Shahidul Alam Pintu, the suspected mastermind, from Mehendigang area of the district. Pintu had been convicted in a robbery case earlier and had recently walked out of jail after 11 years. During interrogation Pintu apparently said that most of the other gang members were also history-sheeters. They had similarly been convicted in different cases and had walked out of jail recently. According to Pintu, they had planned the robberies while still in jail. They apparently hired IT experts from Khulna to destroy all the technological systems of Incepta before carrying out the heist. Police have reportedly got the names and addresses of eight members of the gang. In another case, the Detective Branch of Barisal District Police arrested three members of a cheating gang on April 17. The gang, which had a unique modus operandi, allegedly used four mobile phones in their operation. Two of them would pose as the communication minister and the RAB DG and cheat people out of their money. Police suspected the involvement of an IT expert in this crime, too. District police superintendent SM Akhtaruzzaman said that in recent times, criminal gangs seem to be having easy access to IT expertise. With their IT knowledge, techies know how to avoid police tracking systems. SM Akhtaruzzaman also said that around 150 criminals, divided into several gangs, are active in the region. They are apparently backed by a godfather, who has several IT experts on his payroll. Abu Syed, the spokesman for BMP, however, said that no IT experts are involved, but the criminals are being trained in IT activities like damaging the function of CCTV cameras. He added that times and technology have changed the mode of crime, and police also need to be trained accordingly to take on such criminals.