Dhaka, Bangladesh – An eight-month-old baby girl was abducted yesterday morning during a robbery at the home of a Ministry of Home Affairs employee in Azimpur, Dhaka. The robbers also looted cash and gold ornaments from the residence.
As of 8:00 pm, law enforcement officials had not yet rescued the child, Zaifa, daughter of Farzana Akhter, 33, an employee of the ministry.
Relatives reported that four individuals, including a woman, tied up Farzana and looted the valuables before abducting the infant. At the time, Farzana and Zaifa were alone in their ground-floor flat, located near Gate-2 of the BGB headquarters in Lalbagh.
The woman involved in the robbery had recently befriended Farzana. Colleagues of Farzana revealed that the suspect claimed to be a student at a public university and an employee at the Secretariat’s Transport Pool.
According to a relative, the suspect visited Farzana’s home on Thursday afternoon and requested to stay as a paying guest. Farzana agreed to the arrangement.
Farzana and Zaifa lived with Farzana’s parents, though her husband, Abu Zafar Hawlader, had been staying away for the past two months. Neighbors stated that Farzana’s parents left for their village home in Mathbaria, Pirojpur, yesterday morning. Shortly after their departure, the woman left the flat, saying she needed to go shopping.
Around 9:00 am, the suspect returned with three unidentified men. They tied up Farzana, looted approximately Tk 1.5 lakh and some gold ornaments, and abducted Zaifa before leaving around 9:25 am, said Md Rana, the husband of one of Farzana’s colleagues, quoting her account.
Neighbors said they were unaware of the robbery and only learned about it when law enforcement and intelligence personnel arrived later in the morning.
Farzana and Zafar have been married for 17 years, and Farzana has been working at the ministry for six years. Relatives described her as deeply distressed, crying uncontrollably and unable to speak clearly.
Law enforcement officials were at the scene in the evening, reviewing CCTV footage to identify the perpetrators. Aminul Kabir Tarafdar, additional deputy commissioner of police (Lalbagh zone), stated that efforts to rescue the baby were ongoing.
