Customs officials on Tuesday freed a flight attendant of the national flag carrier, who was arrested on Monday with five bars of gold, weighing 583g, at the Hajarat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital.
Sources said the gold bars had been smuggled from Dubai.Â
“Although air hostess Sadiya Afroz Kumu, 30, was freed, the gold she was carrying had been seized", said Ayesha Akhter, assistant commissioner of Customs at the airport.
"She was freed following directives from the higher authorities of the Customs Department and Biman Bangladesh Airlines, who had discussions among themselves," Ayesha added
The assistant customs commissioner also said they had yet to decide whether the gold would be returned to her or should it be deposited to the central bank treasury.
Kumu was serving at the BG-026 of Biman Bangladesh, which arrived at Dhaka from Dubai at around 10am on Monday.
According to sources, the gold bars were found in her bag while the customs officials searched passengers, the pilot and the cabin crew. Generally, a person is allowed to carry a maximum of 200 grams of gold provided taxes are paid.
Sources said a section of officials and employees of various agencies deployed at the airport were involved with the nexuses active in smuggling gold, precious stones and other valuables through the country's main airport. Customs commissioner Zakiya Sultana said they had seized 192kg of gold in the last seven months.
On September 29, 2010, customs authorities arrested another air hostess named Kamrunnahar of Biman while she was trying to smuggle in currencies worth Tk250m. Airport sources said more than 3,600 people, including airline crew, civil aviation officials, customs and immigration officials, members of the National Security Intelligence (NSI) and Ansar, have been arrested in the last three and a half years for complicity in smuggling.
Among the arrestees, more than 110 are airline employees, including 10 female flight attendants, 400 are officials of the civil aviation authorities, 34 are customs and immigration officials and 210 are members of Ansar.
