The Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) has suspended a security person at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) for failing to spot a gun during a security scan, unintentionally left in a bag by film star and road safety activist Ilias Kanchan.
Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) authorities on Wednesday said that a scan operator Fazlar Rahman who was on duty during the scan at airport at the domestic terminal has been suspended over negligence. The three-member committee will investigate how the licensed gun bypassed the security scan.
Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, Ilias Kanchan said he forgot to remove the firearm from his bag and had told the authorities during his body check at boarding gate that he had a licensed gun in his laptop bag that was about to run through the scanner.
The veteran actor was travelling to Chittagong on a Novo Air flight.
When the bag came out without raising any red flags, Kanchan said he was extremely alarmed at the lack of alertness of the airport’s security staff.
“I was not happy at all. I forgot about the firearm but could it pass through the scanner? I did not understand this,” he said.
“I realized I had a gun in my laptop bag at the body checking point. I surrendered it following due procedures before flight. I had licensed 9mm pistol with nine live rounds,” he said that he produced legal documents of possession and received the firearm once he landed in Chittagong.
AKM Rezaul Karim, the public relations officer of CAAB confirmed to the media that the actor had gun with him when he was flying on Tuesday that passed through the scanner without it being noticed.
This incident comes 11 days after a Biman Bangladesh flight was hijacked from the domestic terminal.
On February 24, a young man named Polash Ahmed used a toy gun to hijack a Dubai-bound Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight from Dhaka via Chittagong. The aircraft landed at Chittagong and the passengers and the crew were released without any incident. But the hijacker was killed when security forces stormed the plane.
The Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry on Monday recommended the suspension of five people, including two civil aviation security officials over the incident.