A total of 61 passengers mysteriously left Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport after collecting boarding passes and clearing immigration, ultimately failing to board a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight to Malaysia, raising fresh concerns over airport security and passenger screening procedures.
According to airport sources, 245 passengers were scheduled to travel on Biman flight BG-386 from Dhaka to Kuala Lumpur on Saturday night. However, when the Boeing 787 Dreamliner departed at 8:35pm, 76 passengers were absent.
Biman Bangladesh authorities say immigration officials offloaded 10 passengers on the flight after they had already boarded the aircraft, while five more were stopped at the boarding gate.
Following this, another 61 passengers on the same flight never showed up at the boarding gate at all. The incident took place on Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight BG-386 to Malaysia on Saturday night. The flight eventually left Dhaka without 76 of its booked passengers.
Boshra Islam, spokesperson for the state-run flag carrier, says immigration officials offloaded 10 passengers, while five more were stopped at the boarding gate. "After that, another 61 passengers, who had collected their boarding passes, never came to the gate for boarding.
Airport officials suspect the 76 passengers were travelling to Malaysia through the collusion of a syndicate. Those who were caught were all headed there for work. Normally, after arriving at the airport, a passenger checks in baggage at the airline counter first and collects a boarding pass.
They then go through the immigration counter, where their passports are stamped to complete immigration formalities. The immigration department is responsible for verifying whether a passenger's passport and visa are in order.
Once immigration is complete, passengers proceed to the boarding gate to board the aircraft. Officials from the police's Special Branch (SB) oversee immigration activities at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
An SB official in charge of immigration duties told The Daily Observer that some passengers are offloaded in the interest of safe migration for Bangladeshi citizens and to protect their safety and dignity abroad, adding that there can be various reasons for this.
"Especially in the case of Malaysia, it has been noted that even when many passengers have valid visas, the Malaysian authorities send them back after they arrive in the country. That is why we have to remain cautious about these matters."
Asked about the passengers offloaded in Saturday's incident, the SB official says he has no information suggesting their visas were forged. "But in these cases, it is often noted that a passenger is travelling on a tourist visa, but their socio-economic condition does not match their foreign travel. Or there could be several other factors that raise suspicion together."
"Many of these passengers are eventually sent back from Malaysia, which is why we make decisions on them beforehand. We are trying to get details from the officials who were on duty on Saturday about the specific grounds on which the passengers were offloaded."
