Smugglers pouring in garments, cosmetics ahead of festivals
'Luggage parties' active on buses and trains
Police arrest a member of a smuggling ring with a huge number of Indian saris from Chittagong city's Mansurabad area yesterday.Photo: STAR
Huge amounts of goods are being smuggled in daily through direct passenger buses and trains running on Dhaka-Kolkata-Dhaka route as a section of passport passengers known as 'luggage party' are pouring in different types of garments and cosmetics from India ahead of the Eid and Puja festivals. Smugglers' syndicates of the two countries are using the buses and trains as a 'safer medium' for bringing Indian goods to supply it to the local market. Valuables including gold and US dollars are also allegedly smuggled using these transports. On August 4, Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) seized Indian sari worth Tk 36 lakh from a bus of transport company 'Souhardo Paribahan' running on Dhaka-Kolkata route. On August 8, law enforcers seized 59 bags containing Indian saris and three pieces of lehenga, worth about Tk one crore, from another bus of the same company. Every day four 'direct' buses run on Dhaka-Kolkata route through Benapole border. At Dhaka Cantonment station on August 12, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) raided Moitree Express train coming from India through Darshana border and recovered high quality Indian saris, 'three pieces' and other garments worth about Tk 3 crore. They also arrested 15 people in this connection. As goods worth crores of taka enter Bangladesh through illegal ways, the import through land ports sees a decline, depriving the government of huge revenue, officials said. There are allegations that a section of bus drivers and supervisors in collaboration with customs officials at Benapole and Petrapole smuggle these goods. "As 'luggage party' smugglers buy a good number of bus tickets in advance, common passengers often find it difficult to get tickets as per need. Although Customs and BDR conduct joint raids on the buses, they rarely check the baggage of the 'luggage party' passengers," said a Bangladeshi passenger travelling in a bus of Souhardo Paribahan. In Chittagong, police seized Indian garments worth Tk 10 lakh and arrested one person yesterday from the city's Mansurabad area under Double-Mooring police station. The arrestee was identified as Jafar, 25, son of one Mohan Miah of Chauddagram upazila in Comilla, reports our staff correspondent. Acting on a tip off, police led by Assistant Commissioner of Police Tanvir Arafat of the Double-Mooring Zone detained a truck in Mansurabad area at around 7.30am. "We seized 647 pieces of Indian salwar kamiz and 552 pieces of Indian saris worth Tk 10 lakh from the truck," Tanvir said. The garments were being taken to Chawkbazar, Tanvir added. Meanwhile, members of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) on Sunday noon recovered smuggled Indian cloths worth Tk 20 lakh from Kali Bazar area in Dharmoghor of Habiganj district. Acting on a tip-off, a team of BDR raided the area and recovered 360 pieces Indian saris and 30 three-piece sets which were hidden under a pile of straw.
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