Staff Correspondent
The
Customs House has sued 10 staff of Biman Bangladesh Airlines and four
others for smuggling 124 kilogrammes of gold, over a month after an NBR
probe pointed to their involvement.
An assistant revenue officer of the Customs House filed the case with the Airport Police Station on Friday after receiving a directive from the National Board of Revenue on Tuesday, said Moinul Khan, director general of Customs Intelligence.
None of the 14 accused was arrested as of yesterday evening. All of them were on the run, said Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Shah Alam of Airport Police Station.
He said the case had been handed over to the Detective Branch of Police.
Asked what action was taken against the accused Biman staff, Khan Mosharraf Hossain, general manager (public relations) of Biman, said they were yet to receive any “documents” in this regard. “Once we receive papers we will take action against them as per rule,” he told The Daily Star over the phone.
The accused Biman staff are: Mohammad Masud, aircraft mechanic; Anis Uddin Bhuiyan, aircraft mechanic assistant; Shahjahan Siraj, junior inspection officer; Abu Zafar, cleaning supervisor; Kamrul Hassan, junior security officer; and mechanics Osman Gani and Mujibar Rahman, officer Saleh Ahmed, and employees Raihan and Maksud of Engineering Hanger.
The four others are: Gauranga Roshan, from Nepal; Milon Sikder, chairman of SS Cargo; Jasimuddin, a tailor of Cox's Bazar; and Jason Prince, an Indian.
Of the Biman employees, Masud and Anis are also accused in the case filed in connection with the haul of 105kg gold in April this year.
The six-member NBR probe-body submitted the report on October 22. The NBR then scrutinised the report and sent it to the finance ministry for its go-ahead to take legal action against the Biman staff, sources said.
After getting the nod, the NBR sent letters to the home ministry requesting it to include the case in its Monitoring Cell and form an investigating team comprising specialised law enforcement agency members, added sources.
The NBR also requested the home ministry to have the case tried in a speedy trial tribunal.
Customs officials believe that several other Biman staff -- including the captain of the aircraft that carried the 124kg gold, its co-pilot and cabin crew members -- might also be involved in smuggling.
“Thorough grilling of the accused could help unveil smuggling rackets and put them on trial, stated the report.
In its biggest ever haul, Customs officials at Shahjalal International Airport seized 1,064 gold bars weighing around 124 kilograms on July 24 last year.
The market value of the bars was around Tk 54 crore.
Following a tip-off, customs officials searched flight BG-702 about half an hour after it landed. The flight from Dubai landed in Dhaka and then flew to Kathmandu and returned once again to Dhaka before Customs Intelligence found the bars kept inside a vacuum chamber of the cargo hold.
Customs Intelligence believed that the gold bars were smuggled from Dubai and their destination was India.
According to Customs Intelligence, they had seized 680kg of gold and arrested 90 people at the country's three international airports in the last 17 months. A section of the arrestees were staff of Biman and Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh.
Besides, Armed Police Battalion personnel seized 112kg of gold and arrested at least 25 people in the last two years at Shahjalal International Airport, said officials.
In a 12-hour operation at Shahjalal International Airport, Uttara and Bashundhara since November 18 evening, detectives arrested five members of a gold smuggling racket, including three Biman high-ups.
An assistant revenue officer of the Customs House filed the case with the Airport Police Station on Friday after receiving a directive from the National Board of Revenue on Tuesday, said Moinul Khan, director general of Customs Intelligence.
None of the 14 accused was arrested as of yesterday evening. All of them were on the run, said Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Shah Alam of Airport Police Station.
He said the case had been handed over to the Detective Branch of Police.
Asked what action was taken against the accused Biman staff, Khan Mosharraf Hossain, general manager (public relations) of Biman, said they were yet to receive any “documents” in this regard. “Once we receive papers we will take action against them as per rule,” he told The Daily Star over the phone.
The accused Biman staff are: Mohammad Masud, aircraft mechanic; Anis Uddin Bhuiyan, aircraft mechanic assistant; Shahjahan Siraj, junior inspection officer; Abu Zafar, cleaning supervisor; Kamrul Hassan, junior security officer; and mechanics Osman Gani and Mujibar Rahman, officer Saleh Ahmed, and employees Raihan and Maksud of Engineering Hanger.
The four others are: Gauranga Roshan, from Nepal; Milon Sikder, chairman of SS Cargo; Jasimuddin, a tailor of Cox's Bazar; and Jason Prince, an Indian.
Of the Biman employees, Masud and Anis are also accused in the case filed in connection with the haul of 105kg gold in April this year.
The six-member NBR probe-body submitted the report on October 22. The NBR then scrutinised the report and sent it to the finance ministry for its go-ahead to take legal action against the Biman staff, sources said.
After getting the nod, the NBR sent letters to the home ministry requesting it to include the case in its Monitoring Cell and form an investigating team comprising specialised law enforcement agency members, added sources.
The NBR also requested the home ministry to have the case tried in a speedy trial tribunal.
Customs officials believe that several other Biman staff -- including the captain of the aircraft that carried the 124kg gold, its co-pilot and cabin crew members -- might also be involved in smuggling.
“Thorough grilling of the accused could help unveil smuggling rackets and put them on trial, stated the report.
In its biggest ever haul, Customs officials at Shahjalal International Airport seized 1,064 gold bars weighing around 124 kilograms on July 24 last year.
The market value of the bars was around Tk 54 crore.
Following a tip-off, customs officials searched flight BG-702 about half an hour after it landed. The flight from Dubai landed in Dhaka and then flew to Kathmandu and returned once again to Dhaka before Customs Intelligence found the bars kept inside a vacuum chamber of the cargo hold.
Customs Intelligence believed that the gold bars were smuggled from Dubai and their destination was India.
According to Customs Intelligence, they had seized 680kg of gold and arrested 90 people at the country's three international airports in the last 17 months. A section of the arrestees were staff of Biman and Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh.
Besides, Armed Police Battalion personnel seized 112kg of gold and arrested at least 25 people in the last two years at Shahjalal International Airport, said officials.
In a 12-hour operation at Shahjalal International Airport, Uttara and Bashundhara since November 18 evening, detectives arrested five members of a gold smuggling racket, including three Biman high-ups.
Published: 12:01 am Sunday, December 07, 2014
Last modified: 12:41 am Sunday, December 07, 2014
