Two men were detained with 475.6 grams of gold jewellery, worth an estimated Tk 75.62 lakh, at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on Tuesday
The detainees were identified as Khairul Hasan Akn, 29, and Sheikh Ariful Islam, 46.
Airport Armed Police Battalion (APBn) said the two were found moving suspiciously near the exit gate on the ground floor of the airport’s multi-storey car park around 9:45am.
They allegedly tried to leave the area after noticing police presence, but APBn personnel detained them.
A subsequent search recovered 475.6 grams of 21-carat gold jewellery from their possession. Police estimated the market value of the jewellery at Tk 75,62,040.
During interrogation, the detainees reportedly told police that the jewellery had been brought into Bangladesh from different countries through unidentified passengers for the purpose of smuggling.
Police also said the two had allegedly been involved in gold smuggling at the airport for a long time.
A case was filed against them with Airport Police Station on Tuesday under Section 25B(1)(b)/25-D of the Special Powers Act, 1974.
According to the case details, the accused allegedly worked in collusion with unidentified passengers to bring the gold into Bangladesh through illegal means, with the intention of smuggling it and evading government revenue.
Mohammad Nazir Ahmed Khan, superintendent of police (operations) of Airport (13) APBn, said the unit would continue its efforts to prevent smuggling and other crimes at the airport.
“Airport APBn has always played an active role in preventing smuggling and combating other crimes in the airport area. We are committed to preventing gold and drug smuggling. Our operations against any form of smuggling through the airport will continue,” he said.
