The lynched robbers aged between 24 and 32 are 'Dhola' Ripon of Wazpur and 'Kala' Ripon, Johnny and Jewell of Mohammadpur and Mirpur areas. Abdus Salam, 42, a worker of Mina Bhaban at Ramchandrapur in Mohammadpur, suffered wounds when the fleeing robbers fired on the locals.

A gang of seven, wearing black mask, introduced themselves as members of anticrime forces Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and Cheetah and knocked the door of Muktar Hossain at around 6:15am. They told him that they had come to search the house in connection with a case, said Muktar's uncle Monir Hossain.

"As I opened the door, the robbers entered the two-storey building that houses four families and took the keys of almirahs after holding all of us hostage at gunpoint," Monir said.

They took land documents and a VCD player, raising suspicion among the inmates that they were rather robbers than Rab men.

During the 30-minute raid, the robbers took Tk 23 lakh in cash, of which Tk 20 lakh got by selling some pieces of land to Mohammadia Housing recently to send co-owner Shamsul Haq to Bangkok for treatment, and 100 tolas of gold ornaments. They also beat up the inmates.

The robbers attempted to slip away by a mechanised boat on which they came to Char Wazpur from Gudaraghat at Mohamm-adpur.

"As the boat was on the mid-river, it struck a piece of bamboo and had its fan broken. Soon we jumped into the river as locals in another trawler were chasing us," said one of the robbers, Shaheen, who is now under police custody with a wound in the head. He took first aid from Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH).

A robber shot the nearly 50-year-old boatman in his leg and he fell into the river. Police could not say anything about him.

The robbers fired three times to force the mob give up the chase. But soon the locals caught 'Kala' Ripon, Johnny and Jewell. Around 200 locals who gathered on the riverbanks beat the three dead on the spot.

Before lynching, the robbers admitted that 'Kala' Ripon, a neighbour of Moktar, used to provide them with information including the recent selling of a piece of land for Tk 20 lakh.

Later, the mob searched out 'Dhola' Ripon who was walking on a road at Char Wazpur and beat him to death.

Three operatives of the gang, Shaheen, 'Murgi' Tipu and 'Chakma' Faruk, a close associate of Nabi, a notorious criminal of Mohammadpur, swam across the river, but locals on Mohammadpur embankment caught and beat them before turning them in to the police.

Worker Abdus Salam, 42, received a bullet in the chest and was first rushed to the DMCH and then to the Chest Diseases Hospital at Mohakhali.

Another member of the gang, Sumon, however managed to slip away.

Locals said the river bandits from Mohammadpur and Mirpur used to carry out robbery in Basila, Char Wazpur and surrounding areas.

The police and locals could neither recover the looted money nor the gold ornaments and other goods from the robbers.

'Murgi' Tipu, however, said some locals snatched the money and other goods from them. Tipu also said they had five firearms, which they dropped into the river.

PROCESSION
Locals of Char Wazpur took out a procession in the area protesting the robbery yesterday.

A few hundred locals brandishing bamboo sticks demanded exemplary punishment to the arrested robbers. They also demanded a permanent police camp in the area.