DHAKA: Voicing serious concern over a burglary incident which took place in Pakistan’s High Commission (PHC) in Dhaka, the Foreign Office said on Tuesday that it was the responsibility of the Bangladesh government to ensure the security of its staff and the items located on the premises.
Unidentified burglars broke into the Consular Section of the facility on Thursday, November 22 and stole computers which contained "official records and sensitive data”, PHC officials said.
The matter was immediately reported to Bangladesh’s police and an FIR was lodged. Islamabad also informed Bangladesh’s Foreign office of the incident and requested for security to be tightened on the premises, a statement released by Pakistan’s Foreign Office read on Tuesday.
“It has been underscored that as a host, it is the responsibility of the Bangladesh government to provide full security to the Pakistan High Commission premises. Authorities in Bangladesh have been requested to carry out a thorough investigation, share a detailed report with us and bring the culprits to justice,” it added.
Detailing the timeline of the burglary, Muhammad Aurangzeb Haral, press counselor of PHC in Dhaka told Arab News: "It was on Thursday just after the closing of the official hour and the next two days were public holidays here in Dhaka. So, we noticed the incident on Sunday morning when we resumed office.”
After studying the CCTV footage, PHC officials suspected it was a "single man operation”. The footage showed that soon after the incident, a cyclist informed the police guards on duty about the suspicious movement of the thief. "But they didn't take any action. What does this mean?" Haral said.
He added that the incident which took place in the highly-sensitive diplomatic zone was “regrettable and a matter of grave concern for the diplomatic missions”. "It was not an ordinary incident,” he added.
In a letter to the Bangladesh Foreign ministry signed by the acting High Commissioner Sha Faisal Kakar, the mission had requested to beef up the security provided to foreign missions, diplomats and their supporting staff to thwart any other such incidents in future.
"We have taken the matter very seriously and an investigation is under process. We hope to find the culprits very soon,” Hayatul Islam Khan, Deputy Commissioner of the Diplomatic Security Division, Bangladesh police, told Arab News.
Several attempts were made by Arab News to contact the foreign ministry official for details of the incident, but all went unanswered.
