Two airport staff remanded over 80 gold bars found hidden in shoes
The two accused were arrested after Customs Intelligence officials allegedly recovered 80 gold bars weighing around 9.34kg from their shoes at Dhaka airport.
A Dhaka court today (5 October) placed two airport staff members on five-day remand in a case filed over the recovery of 80 gold bars allegedly concealed inside their shoes at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ripon Hossain passed the order after police sought 10 days' remand for the accused, identified as Manik Mia and Mizanur Rahman.
Abu Bakar Siddique, sub-inspector of the prosecution department, confirmed the matter.
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Earlier, Airport Police Station Inspector Abul Qayyum, also the investigation officer in the case, produced the two accused before the court and sought 10 days' remand.
No lawyer appeared for the accused during the hearing.
During the hearing, the court asked Manik where they had obtained the gold. He replied that they had found it on a flight.
Asked how they found it, he said the gold was in a seat.
The judge then questioned whether such items were found occasionally. The accused did not respond.
When asked whether they had found gold before, Manik said they had not.
The judge questioned how gold weighing 100 grams, 200 grams or 9kg could be found on a seat before granting five days' remand for both accused.
On 4 October, officials from the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate took positions at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport following a tip-off.
They became suspicious of the movements of the two airport staff members on the runway after Emirates flight EK0582 arrived in Dhaka from Dubai.
The officials subsequently searched the two staff members and allegedly recovered 80 gold bars concealed inside their shoes.
Each bar weighed around 117 grams, with the total weight estimated at 9.34kg.
According to customs officials, the seized gold is worth around Tk16.25 crore at market prices.
Ruhani Islam, assistant revenue officer of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Circle at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, filed the case with Airport Police Station under the Special Powers Act in connection with the seizure.
