Dhaka Metropolitan Police recovered cash worth around Tk 3.11 crore, including local and foreign currencies, from the apartment of a former senior secretary on Babar Road in the capital’s Mohammadpur area yesterday.
DMP informed the matter to the media through a text message around 7:30pm.
The message said based on secret information, DMP conducted a raid and recovered a large amount of domestic and foreign currency from a house on Block F on Babar Road. It said the flat belonged to Shah Kamal, former senior secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief.
Kamal served as secretary from 2015 to 2019 and senior secretary from 2019 to 2020.
According to DMP, they recovered approximately Tk 3.01 crore in BDT, prize bonds worth Tk 74,400, and various foreign currencies worth around Tk 10.03 lakh. The foreign currencies include $3,000; 1,320 Malaysian Ringgit; 2,969 Saudi Riyal; 4,122 Singapore Dollar; 1,915 Australian Dollar.
Visiting the spot around 8:00pm, this correspondent found that army personnel were deployed at the eight-storey building. The former secretary owned a flat on the first floor.
Mostafa Gazi, a trader in Mohammadpur, said they saw vehicles entering the building with sacks over the past few days. Suspecting something amiss, they kept watch on the house and learnt from a source that the sacks contained money. They later informed the army in the evening, he added.
Nurul Islam, a security guard at the building, told The Daily Star that six to seven men, identifying themselves as members of the Detective Branch, came to the house around 2:00pm. Nurul said the former secretary did not reside there.
“He used to come here once or twice a week with two vehicles and stay for about an hour. One of the vehicles was still parked there,” said the security guard, who has been working there for the past four months.