Police have detained a cabin crew member of US-Bangla Airlines at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka while she was smuggling in 82 gold bars — worth around Tk5 crore — strapped around her body.
Rokeya Sheikh Moushumi was held after she arrived on a US-Bangla flight from Muscat, Oman at 11am on Thursday, said Airport Armed Police Battalion’s (APBn) Additional SP (operations and media) Alamgir Hossain.
He said: “APBn had prior information that a crew member of the airline was illegally carrying gold bars to Dhaka from Muscat. Rokeya confessed to committing the crime when she was interrogated.
“During preliminary interrogation, she told us that there was another person involved. She identified him as Shuhel Kha, who also arrived in Dhaka in the same flight.”
Alamgir said Suhel asked Rokeya to secretly carry the gold bars outside the airport with the promise to give her Tk150,000. “This consignment was supposed to go to another person named Lucky who may be a resident of Dhaka.”
But Rokeya was caught by APBn on her way out of the airport through the green channel. He said that the seized 82 gold bars weigh 9.512 kg and market price of this much gold was around Tk5 crore.
Legal action was being taken against her, Alamgir added.
Regarding this incident, US-Bangla Group’s Head of Media and Communication Md Sheikh Saadi Shishir told Dhaka tribune that Rokeya committed the crime on her own for herself. “The airline is not responsible for such individual crime.
“We have also suspended Rokeya immediately as per the organizational rules and regulation.”
He added that the authorities concerned will investigate the matter and take further action.
