A Bangladeshi man was rescued and immediately arrested for attempted theft, according to reports
A 24-year-old Bangladeshi man was arrested in Milan after being trapped for nine hours in the bank vault he allegedly attempted to rob, Italian state news agency ANSA reported on Friday.
The would-be robber reportedly entered the UniCredit bank during working hours the day before and made his way into the vault to get to the safety deposit boxes, where he was trapped by the timed lock.
Bank security personnel, who saw the suspect on security cameras, alerted the authorities at around 9 PM on Thursday, ANSA said. However, the timed lock prevented anyone from accessing the vault before it released the following morning. It took the fire department until 6 AM to get into the vault, according to ANSA.
The suspect was safely rescued and immediately arrested and charged with aggravated theft, the agency reported. Police are working on scene to reconstruct the incident, it said.
Bangladeshi migrants have made up the biggest share, around a third, of new arrivals in Italy in 2026, the Italian Interior Ministry reported on Friday. The media did not clarify whether the suspect is a legal migrant.
Migrant crime has been a cause of increased concern in Italy, with high-profile cases like gang rapes and violent assaults feeding public outrage and fueling support for harsher border control measures.
In 2024, migrants accounted for roughly 60% of all public robberies, 69% of pick-pocketing cases and 43% of all sexual assaults, despite representing around 9% of the population, according to Interior Ministry data. The numbers were especially high in metropolitan areas such as Milan and Florence.
Last week, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s cabinet approved a draft law authorizing naval blockades to stop migrant boats from entering Italy’s waters. The bill also outlines stricter border surveillance and broadens the range of crimes for which foreign nationals can be deported, as well as toughening sentences for human smugglers.
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Meloni, who was elected in 2022 on promises to stop boat arrivals, has pursued increasingly tougher border policies, as Italy remains a primary destination for people fleeing Africa via the Mediterranean.
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