Gold smuggling cases make no headway for lack of evidence

The cases filed by various investigation agencies in relation to gold smuggling have not made much headway. Most gold smuggling cases see no progress due to insufficient evidence.

Police and Customs officials believe some people just simply travel to Dubai and Oman to be able to play the role of carriers for the gold smugglers. They get free plane tickets and up to Tk 30,000 in return for the favour, officers said. The investigating police officers fail to glean vital information from the arrested during interrogation and subsequent investigation.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) sources said the masterminds cannot be traced down due to insufficient information.  The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity told the Daily Observer vital information is sometimes intentionally left out while filing cases to protect smugglers who have connections with some law enforcers.  

Members of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) and National Security Intelligence (NSI) in a drive seized gold ornaments weighing over 4.5 kilograms at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong on the morning of January 13.

The estimated value of the recovered gold is over Tk 3.89 crore. The gold was recovered beneath the seat of an aircraft of Biman Bangladesh Airlines.

According to airport Customs sources, Bangladesh Biman flight BG-248, arriving from Dubai, landed at Sylhet airport at 8:50am on December 8 last year.  More than 23 kg of gold was confiscated.

Some of the individuals under suspicion are claiming to be innocent, but those who are involved with the smuggling will be determined after statements from all parties involved.

Assistant Commissioner of Osmani Airport Customs, Sajedul Karim, informed that nine passengers have been identified as suspects in this incident.

The members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) claimed to have detained a man and recovered around 16kg of gold bars worth Tk 16.7 crore from his possession from Darshana upazila of Chuadanga on  November 28 last year.
 
The detainee is identified as Nazmul Islam, 31, of Shyampur village under the upazila and he is a member of an organised gold smuggling gang, the BGB said in a press release.

Later, the BGB men searched his body and filter box of his motorcycle and recovered 96 gold bars weighing 16kg from seven packets. Investigations are underway to ascertain who among them is involved in gold smuggling.
 
Separate cases have been registered against them in concerned police station under the Special Powers Act.

CIDs analysis of case documents shows investigating officers failed to extract any vital information from the arrested, who were placed on two to three days remand. The fact is the investigating officers do not quiz them to get to the bottom of the case and track down the masterminds, a CID investigator said.

In almost all cases, the carriers who get arrested know only two persons -- the one who hands him the consignment and the person receiving the package.

A senior lawyer practising in a Dhaka court said convictions in such cases are rare, except for the two cases that recently saw convictions. In one case, four people including two Biman employees were sentenced to 12 years in jail by a Dhaka court in January this year. The case involved recovery of 9.28kg of gold in Dhaka in 2018.

In another case involving recovery of 13 gold bars in 2020, a woman was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Jashore court in March this year.