A Bangladeshi cyber security expert has gone missing, his family said on Friday (March 18), days after he said officials at the central bank bore some responsibility for an $81 million theft from its foreign exchange account.
Hackers stole the money from the Bangladesh Bank’s account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on February 5 and managed to transfer it electronically to accounts in the Philippines.
IT expert Tanvir Hassan Zoha, who said he was helping the government investigate the crime, told a local TV station last week that “apathy” over security at Bangladesh Bank had contributed to the audacious theft.
Zoha has not been seen since Wednesday (March 16) night when he was picked up on his way home from work in the capital Dhaka, his wife Kamrun Nahar said, citing a friend who was with him.
“Several men in plainclothes stopped their auto-rickshaw and put them in two different vehicles. Later they dropped Yamir (Zoha’s friend) on a road blindfolded but took Zoha with them,” Nahar told reporters.
“We’ve not heard anything from him since then,” the wife said, saying police had not filed a case on her husband’s disappearance.
The heist has hugely embarrassed the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and raised alarm over the security of the country’s foreign exchange reserves of over $27 billion.
The central bank governor and his two deputies lost their jobs following the theft and the government has been scrambling to contain the damage from the spiralling scandal.
Zoha, 34, told Ekattor TV station on March 11 that “the database administrator of the (Bangladesh Bank) server cannot avoid responsibility for such hacking”.
The government committee probing the case had “noticed apathy about the security system (of the server)” he said.
Authorities have denied that Zoha was working with them on investigating the case.
Police have yet to make any comment on Zoha’s disappearance.
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)