A Chittagong court on Wednesday sentenced two individuals to 14 years in prison for their involvement in the illegal smuggling of gold bars, as per the case from Akbarshah Police Station.
Judge Afroza Jasmine Koli of the Chittagong Metropolitan Special Tribunal-8 delivered the ruling.
The convicted individuals are Md. Arif from Faridganj upazila in Chandpur district and Md. Rubel from Hajiganj district.
According to court bench assistant Naeem Hossain, the sentences were handed down after the charges of gold smuggling were substantiated by the testimonies of five witnesses.
Additionally, each convict was fined Tk 10,000, with a provision that failure to pay would result in an additional three months of imprisonment.
Both accused were present in court when the verdict was pronounced and were subsequently taken to jail under a warrant of arrest.
The case documents reveal that on March 27, 2018, police executed a raid on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway at the head of CDA Road No. 1, acting on confidential information received at Akbarshah Police Station.
During this operation, Arif and Rubel were apprehended. A subsequent search led to recovery of a total of four gold bars, with each individual possessing two bars.
Each bar weighed 116.66 grams, bringing the total weight of the recovered gold to 466.64 grams.
The then-officer of Akbarshah Police Station, Md. Zaker Hossain, initiated the case under the Special Powers Act of 1974, charging them with the illegal possession of gold bars brought from abroad.
Following an investigation, the police submitted a charge sheet to the court.
The trial commenced on September 21, 2021, with the framing of charges against the accused at the Chittagong Metropolitan Special Tribunal-8.