Police recover 70kg brass bell stolen from Mohammadpur church

Police have recovered a brass bell weighing around 70 kilogram that was stolen from St Paul's School and Church in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur.

The bell was found abandoned beside a rubbish bin on Zakir Hossain Road under Mohammadpur Police Station at around 2:50am on Thursday, Mohammadpur Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Abdul Halim confirmed.

The OC said the bell had been kept in an open space on the second floor of the school and church on Asad Gate. An unidentified thief or thieves took it sometime after 12:03am on Thursday.

Police visited the church after receiving information in the early hours and later launched an operation with multiple teams to recover the stolen property and arrest those involved.

During the operation, the thief or thieves abandoned the bell and fled. It was later found wrapped in a white polythene bag beside a rubbish bin on Zakir Hossain Road.

Abdul Halim said police are investigating why the church’s CCTV recording stopped from 12:03am, before the theft.

“We are collecting and analysing CCTV footage from various establishments in the surrounding area. An operation is underway to identify and arrest those involved,” he said.

The recovered bell is currently in police custody, while legal proceedings in connection with the incident are underway, he added.