Huge gold haul on Biman flight

Police have recovered 1,065 gold bars weighing 124 kgs from a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight from Kathmundu at the Shahjalal International Airport.

They suspect airline authorities were involved with the smuggling.

On Tuesday, nearly 146 gold bars weighing nearly 17 kg was found on a passenger from Muscat, Oman, at the Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong.

Armed Police Battalion (APBn) Assistant Commissioner Alamgir Hossain it was impossible to smuggle in such huge amount of gold with assistance of the authorities.

He said each of the bars weighed nearly 10 tolas and had an estimated market value of nearly Tk 540 million.

Hossain said they found the gold bars in BG 701 flight’s luggage chamber at around 3pm on Wednesday.

“Someone from the airline’s management is involved with it,” the APBn official said.

The Assistant Commissioner hinted at running checks on personal information of all passengers and crew on board the flight.

The flag carrier's Public Relations Director Khan Mosharraf Hossain told bdnews24.com he was 'unaware' of the incident. He said he would comment later.

Earlier this month, nearly 25 kg gold was found abandoned on a flight that came from Kuwait.

Rising gold price in Bangladesh has led to increasing smuggling attempts of the precious metal from other countries.

(1 tola = 11.66 grams)