Fatal Robbery of Customs Officer

A senior customs official, Bullet Bairagi, is believed to have fallen victim to a coordinated attack by a group of professional muggers while returning to his rented accommodation in Cumilla after travelling from Chattogram, according to officials from the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB-11).

Investigators involved in the arrests said the 34-year-old revenue officer was targeted by four assailants who boarded the same CNG-run auto-rickshaw as him shortly after he got down near Padua Bazar bus stand. Although he initially disembarked slightly away from the stand, he later hired the vehicle to return. Unbeknown to him, the vehicle already carried the attackers—two seated at the front with the driver and two at the rear alongside him.

RAB officials confirmed that all five individuals later detained were previously implicated in cases of railway-related robbery. During interrogation, one additional suspect was also found in possession of the victim’s bag and mobile phone, though he was not directly involved in the killing.

The victim’s body was later discovered on the footpath of the Chattogram-bound side of the Dhaka–Chattogram highway near the Kotbari area, adjacent to a roadside hotel. He had been missing for approximately seven hours before police recovered his body on Saturday morning at around 7:45 am. Locals first alerted authorities upon seeing him lying in a bloodied state.

Investigators believe the attackers robbed him mid-journey and then pushed him from the moving vehicle. He struck his head on the road surface, sustaining fatal injuries. After the incident, the perpetrators reportedly fled towards the Uluarchar area of Chouara Bazar, heading in the direction of Aziz Mansion.

A RAB-11 officer involved in the operation described the emotional toll of the case, stating that the brutality of the incident deeply affected both investigators and their families. He added that advanced technological surveillance played a crucial role in identifying and apprehending all suspects involved.

Another officer suggested that the victim may have been asleep or disoriented at the time of the attack, and that he likely struggled briefly after noticing the weapons carried by the assailants.

Bullet Bairagi was serving as an Assistant Revenue Officer at the Cumilla Bibirbazar Land Customs Station. He had recently welcomed a baby boy with his family in Cumilla, who was due to celebrate his first birthday on the same date as the officer’s death, adding a tragic dimension to the case.

Timeline of Events

The investigation remains ongoing as authorities continue to piece together the full sequence of events leading to the fatal attack.