A fire that erupted in the Bangladesh Bank (BB) headquarters at Motijheel in the capital was brought under control after around an hour last night. An official of the central bank said the fire erupted on the 13th floor, which houses the bank’s Foreign Exchange Policy Department. Finance Minister AMA Muhith, BB Governor Fazle Kabir, and senior officials of both the central bank and the law enforcing agencies rushed to the building after hearing the news.
DGM Sirajul Islam of operation and supervision wing said the authorities have formed a five-member body to probe the incident and file a report. Meanwhile, according to a senior BB official, who preferred anonymity, the fire might be an act of sabotage to destroy important documents relating to foreign currency and the biggest ever cyber heist that had cost the central bank $81 million in February 2016. Sources at Fire Service and Civil Defence said the fire broke out around 9:28pm. “Twelve firefighting units of the fire service were on the spot to tame the flames. The reason behind the fire was yet to be identified,” said Mahmud Hasan, duty officer of the fire service. When contacted, BB deputy governor SK Sur said was yet to know the details behind the fire.