A Dhaka court has placed Arman Uddin Siddique on a five-day remand after he was arrested with 1,290 grams of gold paste worth Tk1.74 crore at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Hasan Shahadat passed the order on Friday, following a 10-day remand petition filed by the investigation officer, SI Anisur Rahman of Airport Police Station.
SI Abu Bakkar of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s prosecution division confirmed the matter.
According to the case documents, Arman arrived in Dhaka from Sharjah on an Air Arabia flight (G9 518) on October 8. Acting on a tip-off, a preventive team of customs officials placed him under surveillance at the airport.
After completing immigration formalities, he was stopped near baggage belt 2 and searched on suspicion.
Customs officials found three oval-shaped packets wrapped in white adhesive tape concealed in his rectum. The packets contained 24-carat gold paste.
According to the National Board of Revenue (NBR), each packet contained 430 grams of gold paste, bringing the total to 1,290 grams. Refining the paste could yield approximately one kilogram of pure gold, with an estimated market value of Tk1.74 crore.
Assistant Revenue Officer HM Mamun Kaisar of Customs filed a case with Airport Police Station under relevant provisions of the Special Powers Act, 1974, and the Customs Act, 2023.
In the remand petition, the investigation officer said Arman had long been involved in gold smuggling by illegally bringing gold into the country from abroad. He said interrogation was necessary to identify and arrest the alleged ringleaders, financiers and absconding accomplices involved in the smuggling network.
After hearing the petition, the court granted a five-day remand.
