Arrest with cash 'staged drama': Jamaat

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami on Wednesday termed the detention of its Thakurgaon district ameer Belal Uddin Pradhan with cash at Syedpur Airport a "staged drama" aimed at discrediting the party ahead of the election.

Speaking at a press conference at Jamaat's central office in Moghbazar, Dhaka, the party's head of publicity and media, Ahsanul Mahbub Jubayer, said Pradhan was stopped earlier in the day while traveling from Dhaka to Syedpur.

According to Jubayer, airport officials came to know that Pradhan was carrying cash. The Executive Director of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Group Captain SM Ragib Samad, issued a no-objection clearance, noting that carrying cash on a domestic flight is permitted.

"Despite that, a drama was staged with malicious intent and spread negatively," Jubayer alleged.

He said Pradhan had clarified that he frequently travels for business. "Banks are closed. He had transactions to make. That is why he carried cash. This is completely normal," he said.