A Chittagong court has put the Khan Jahan Ali Company’s official Golam Mostafa Sohel on five-day remand who was arrested in connection with importing liquid cocaine behind the sun flower oil in Chittagong Port.
The court of Metropolitan Magistrate Farid Alam passed the five-day remand of Golam Mostafa Sohel after the Investigation Officer (IO) of the case produced the accused before the court seeking five-day remand prayer in the case at around 3pm on Thursday.
Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP)’s Additional Deputy Commissioner Kazi Muttaki Ibn Minan told Dhaka Tribune
Golam Mostafa Sohel, manager of Prime Hatchery Limited which, a sister concern of the alleged importer of the cocaine Khan Jahan Ali Limied, was remanded for five days by the same court earlier.
“After hearing in this regards, the court granted more five-day remand appeal responding the IO’s plea in a bid to fair probe and verifying the information that gleaned from the accused earlier”, added the high official.
The same court on Wednesday night asked the IO of cocaine case to fresh examine of the samples of sunflower oil in three different laboratories including Armed Forces Food and Drug Laboratory in Dhaka.
Police official Minan told Dhaka Tribune that after collection of the samples from the sun flower oil’s container, the court directed the IO to examine those samples freshly in three laboratories including Armed Forces Food and Drug Laboratory in Dhaka Cantonment, CID laboratory and Department of Narcotic Control (DNC)’s laboratory in Dhaka.
Sohel was arrested on June 6 while Directorate of Customs Intelligence and Investigation (CIID) arrested three other persons including COSCOShipping Agency’s Manager AKM Azad, Mondol Group’s Commercial Executive Atiqur Rahaman and a real estate company official Mostafa Kamal on June 30 in the liquid cocaine seizure case filed with Bandar police station.
On this June 27, the existence of liquid cocaine has been found in the laboratory test of the sample collected from the sealed sunflower oil-laden container in Chittagong port.
On the following day, police lodged a case against Khan Jahan Ali Group Chairman Nur Mohammad when court ordered police to produce Sohel showing arrest in the same case.
The CIID formed a four-member probe body in this regard and it was asked to submit report within 10 working days.
Meanwhile, a team of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), by the request of CIID, will come to Dhaka soon to determine the actual weight of the cocaine.
On June 6, the CIID sealed the container in Chittagong Port which was suspected to bring 2,140 kilogrammes of liquid cocaine.
The container was boarded on ship from Montevideo, Uruguay after being imported from Bolivia and arrived at Chittagong Port on May 13 via Singapore Port.
The DB initially found that Sohel brought the consignment using the company’s pad and address.
Later, Sohel was nabbed as he in initial interrogation confessed his England expatriate cousin’s husband, through his friend, imported the consignment.
On June 8, the physical examination of the sealed container was conducted in the port but did not found liquid cocaine in the container.
The CIID found the existence of cocaine at a drum inscribed with number 96 out of a total 107 in the container by further laboratory test.
The customs intelligence suspected about one-third portion of the drum -- which was carrying 185 litres -- would be cocaine worth about Tk360 crore, said customs intelligence’s Director General Dr Mainul Khan.
Investigators have also found the link of a Bangladesh-origin UK citizen, Bakul, in the smuggling of the illegal drug from Uruguay.
The consignment was on its way to Europe or North America; otherwise, it was supposed to be re-exported to India’s Kolkata, from where the smugglers had plans to send it back to Uruguay again.
