Police have arrested the prime suspect behind a massive financial fraud involving the embezzlement of millions of taka from the Sreenagar branch of Agrani Bank in Munshiganj. Mohammad Sharifuzzaman Sohag, a cash officer at the state-owned bank, was apprehended alongside his first wife during a late-night raid in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur neighbourhood at approximately 10:00 pm on Tuesday, 29 September. With their detention, law enforcement agencies have now brought three individuals into custody regarding the high-profile banking scandal.
According to police and banking sources, Sohag went into hiding immediately after news of the missing funds surfaced and panicked depositors began confronting branch officials. Acting on precise intelligence, a specialized team from Sreenagar Police Station raided a hideout in Mohammadpur, taking Sohag and his wife into custody. The arrest follows the apprehension of another bank cash officer, Jinnah Hossain, who was taken into police custody last Thursday for his alleged role in the fraudulent scheme.
News of the widespread misappropriation triggered widespread alarm across the region, prompting hundreds of distressed depositors to converge on the Sreenagar branch to verify their account balances. On Tuesday alone, between 20 and 25 additional customers submitted formal written complaints to the branch authorities detailing missing deposits. This follows 230 written complaints lodged during the preceding two days, bringing the total number of affected account holders filing official claims to over 250 within a three-day period.
To determine the full extent of the financial losses and identify all culpable parties, a high-level internal audit committee appointed by Agrani Bank is currently conducting a comprehensive forensic examination of branch ledger books, deposit slips, and digital transaction logs.
Distraught depositors maintain that a fraud scheme operating on such a scale over an extended period could not have been executed by cash officers alone without broader institutional collusion. Demanding the full recovery of their life savings, victims have urged law enforcement agencies to place the suspects under rigorous custodial interrogation to dismantle the entire syndicate behind the embezzlement.
Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Sreenagar Police Station, Mohammad Jewel Miah, confirmed the arrests, stating that legal proceedings and remand applications are currently underway. Senior Principal Officer of Agrani Bank, Sourav Samaddar, also confirmed Sohag’s arrest, reassuring customers that the bank is committed to establishing accountability and safeguarding legitimate depositor interests.
