Chattogram: Police have arrested two individuals, including a senior official of Agrani Bank, following the disappearance of Tk 4.38 crore from the vault of its Laldighi East Corporate branch in Chattogram.

According to United News of Bangladesh, the arrestees are Md Kamrul Hossain, 41, a senior officer and cash in-charge of the branch, and Md Jafrullah Tanvir, 25. The arrests were made after the bank authorities lodged a case with Kotwali Police Station. The bank’s General Manager, Mostak Ahmed, filed the case naming Kamrul and Jafrullah as accused, along with several unidentified others.

The case statement detailed that Kamrul was responsible for the branch’s cash and vault management. A discrepancy was detected on August 9 during the reconciliation of daily cash transactions with the cash stored in the vault after regular banking operations. Further scrutiny of accounts, vault records, and relevant documents uncovered a shortage of Tk 4.38 crore.

When questioned about the missing funds, Kamrul allegedly could not provide a satisfactory explanation. The bank claims that Kamrul, with the assistance of Jafrullah and unidentified individuals, removed the money from the vault. Inspector (Investigation) Md Iqbal Hossain of Kotwali Police Station, who is overseeing the case, stated that the two accused were arrested in connection with the alleged embezzlement of Tk 4.38 crore, which belonged to bank customers.

A court subsequently sent the accused to jail. During the investigation, police seized two mobile phones and a 64GB pen drive containing WhatsApp communications and screen recordings from the suspects. The missing funds were reportedly deposited by various bank customers, according to bank authorities.