Man held with large amount of rupees at Dhaka airport

Customs intelligence officials yesterday arrested a man along with a huge amount of Indian rupees at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

Md Akram, 45, landed at the airport at midday on flight no PK 0266 from Pakistan before officials arrested him.

Ayesha Akhter, assistant director of customs intelligence, said officials were keeping an eye on the passengers in the wake of an intelligence report that said the flight would carry smuggled goods.

Officials checked Akram’s luggage when he was crossing the green channel and found nearly 6,957,000 Indian rupees concealed in it, she said while addressing a press briefing at the red channel of the airport.

The 45-year-old, who hails from Munshiganj, had no passport, making it impossible for officials to obtain his details.

“Because he had no passport, we could not know when he went to Pakistan and also the duration of his stay in that country,” Ayesha said.

“We are trying to contract the Bangladesh Embassy in Pakistan for the details and also interrogating the detainee about the Indian currency he brought with him.”

The customs intelligence official said not a single fake note was found among those seized.

The money, she said, was suspected to have been brought to fund criminal acts.

“The real reason could only be known once the interrogation ends. A case will be lodged in this connection and a first information report will also be filed against the arrestee for initiating legal action,” said Ayesha.

“To date, customs intelligence officials have arrested 13 people since July 2013 for their alleged involvement in currency smuggling and the money recovered from them stands at nearly Tk37 crore.

“Of the total amount recovered, there was Indian currency equivalent to Tk14 crore,” she added.

dhakatribune

Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.