A group of individuals looted around five lakh Saudi riyals from an employee of a money exchange trader in Dhaka's Tejgaon on Tuesday night.

However, detectives suspect that the robbery was orchestrated by the employee himself while he was on his way to Uttara from the Baitul Mukarram area in a private car to make payments on behalf of a currency trader.

Six people, including the employee, have been detained over the incident and 2.79 lakh riyals have been recovered from their possession, said Detective Branch Joint Commissioner (North) Rabiul Islam Bhuiyan yesterday.

The employee, identified as Tuhin, had initially claimed that a gang of criminals on three motorcycles intercepted the car near Tejgaon Polytechnic Institute and snatched a bag containing foreign currency worth over Tk 1.5 crore.

He said he was heading to Uttara to make payments on behalf of a currency trader.

"During interrogation, Tuhin admitted that the robbery had been staged with the help of his associates," Mohammad Ibne Mizan, deputy commissioner of Tejgaon Division said.

A drive is still ongoing to arrest the remaining perpetrators and recover the rest of the money, said police.