Another major gold haul

In yet another major haul, customs intelligence yesterday seized 61 kgs of gold from a Biman aircraft at Shahjalal International Airport.

Tipped off, a team of customs intelligence started a search inside the Biman Bangladesh Airlines aircraft for smuggled gold soon after the Dubai-Dhaka flight via Chittagong, BG 048, landed at 8:30am. They recovered 485 gold bars worth around Tk 30 crore from special chambers of the aircraft. 

The flight surprisingly landed at the Dhaka airport two hours ahead of schedule. The search continued for six hours, said customs intelligence officials.

"A ring is involved in the smuggling of this stash. The arrival of the aircraft two hours ahead of its schedule was their tactic to dodge the intelligence agencies at the airport," Nojibur Rahman, chairman of the National Board of Revenue, told reporters at the airport.

A vested quarter, he added, involved with the smuggling gang carefully stashed the gold inside the aircraft. He suspected some unscrupulous Biman officials and staff might also be involved with the incident.

After offloading the passengers at the airport, the aircraft was being taken to the bay area instead of the boarding bridge so that the smuggled gold could be safely taken out of the aircraft and airport, reckoned customs intelligence officials.

The officials with the help of Biman technicians unscrewed a part of the mirror panel of a toilet and seized 180 gold bars and chains. They also had to unscrew another chamber door where 120 gold bars were kept, while 185 gold bars were seized from a chamber for life jackets.

"Nobody can hide gold bars in such places inside an aircraft without the help of Biman technicians," said Moinul Khan, director general of Customs Intelligence and Investigations.

"Even skilled technicians are needed to remove gold bars from such places," he added.

Though the customs intelligence could not arrest anyone in this connection, they found involvement of two people. The officials, however, did not name them.

A three-member committee headed by a deputy director of the customs intelligence has been formed to probe the incident. The committee has been asked to submit its report within 10 working days.

More than 1,000-kg gold was seized at the country's airports in last one year alone.

Some 158 cases have been filed in the last four years against over 200 people, mostly carriers, in the capital. But not a single case has seen the verdict, police and court sources said.