Portrait of the man who used a bomb to rob a bank of 1.1 billion VND.

On January 29th, the Criminal Police Department of Bac Giang Provincial Police announced that they had issued a decision to temporarily detain Nguyen Duc Minh (35 years old), residing in Yen Dung district, Bac Giang province, on charges of "robbery".

Earlier, at approximately 3:15 PM on January 26th, the Criminal Police Department received a report from the 113 Police force of Bac Giang province regarding a "robbery" incident with particularly serious consequences at the Dinh Ke branch of Agribank Bac Giang II, located at 1122 Le Loi Street, Dinh Ke Ward, Bac Giang City.

Upon receiving the report, the Criminal Investigation Department of the Bac Giang Provincial Police, in coordination with the Bac Giang City Police and the Forensic Technical Department, conducted a scene investigation and organized verification and investigation.

The suspect Nguyen Duc Minh and the scene of the robbery.

Through the crime scene investigation, the police determined that the perpetrator was a male, acting alone. CCTV footage showed the suspect wearing a face mask, gloves, a baseball cap, and carrying a backpack.

Upon entering, the suspect took a piece of paper from his backpack that read, "I have a bomb and a gun in my bag. Put the money in there if you don't want to die," and handed it to Ms. Pham Thi Mai, the cashier. He then placed a box-shaped package (a bomb) on Ms. Mai's desk and presented a gun, demanding that the bank employee take 1.1 billion VND from the safe and put it into his backpack. Afterward, the suspect took the backpack containing the money and escaped on a motorbike.

Based on the investigation documents, determining this to be an exceptionally serious and complex case with an unknown perpetrator and a highly violent nature, requiring the simultaneous application of various measures to quickly identify the perpetrator, the Criminal Investigation Department of the Bac Giang Provincial Police issued a decision to initiate a criminal case and establish a special task force to quickly investigate and identify the suspect.

Through investigative measures, the police tracked down Nguyen Duc Minh, the person who made the fake mine, but when a task force arrived at his residence, his family had already moved elsewhere.

According to sources, Minh and his wife had separated; his wife and children had returned to her parents' home in Phi Mo commune, Lang Giang district (Bac Giang province), while his whereabouts were unknown. Based on intelligence reports, the Criminal Police Department tracked Minh down to Bac Ninh province. Immediately afterward, on January 27th, another task force was sent to Bac Ninh to summon him to the police station for questioning.

At the time, Minh remained quite calm, offering numerous evasive excuses to deny the crime. However, faced with overwhelming evidence presented by the police, he finally confessed to the robbery on the evening of January 28th.

According to Minh, due to debt, 10 days before committing the crime, he bought a fake plastic gun and other items to rob the aforementioned bank. Afterward, Minh frequently waited outside the bank, observing its operating hours and choosing days with fewer customers to break in. After committing the crime, he threw the fake gun into a pond in Hamlet 3, Tan Thinh Commune (Lang Giang District).

Based on Minh's confession, the investigating agency searched and seized 28 stacks of 200,000 VND banknotes that he had hidden in the backyard of his mother-in-law's house in Phi Mo commune (Lang Giang district); a search of Minh's car yielded 16 stacks of 200,000 VND banknotes and 2 stacks of 100,000 VND banknotes.

In addition, the police also seized the fake gun. The Criminal Investigation Department is currently continuing to investigate and clarify some related details.

The Chairman of the People's Committee of Bac Giang province awarded a bonus of 60 million VND to four units: the Criminal Investigation Department, the Forensic Technical Department, the Technical Operations Department, and the Bac Giang City Police Department.

Reward offered for bank robbery case.

On the afternoon of January 29th, the Bac Giang Provincial Police held a press conference to provide information about the robbery case and to present cash rewards from the Chairman of the Bac Giang Provincial People's Committee to the units that had made outstanding contributions.

For this achievement, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Bac Giang province awarded four units – the Criminal Investigation Department, the Forensic Technical Department, the Technical Operations Department, and the Bac Giang City Police – a total of 60 million VND. Also on this occasion, the Vietnam Agricultural and Rural Development Bank awarded the special task force 50 million VND, and the People's Committee of Bac Giang City awarded 30 million VND.