Ilias Kanchan lied to media about passing airport security barrier with gun: CAAB

Actor Ilias Kanchan had lied to the media about passing through a security barrier at Dhaka airport with a firearm, the civil aviation authorities say.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 7 March 2019, 02:19 PM
Updated : 7 March 2019, 02:31 PM

The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh or CAAB made the claim on Thursday in a statement on the incident that occurred 10 days after a man boarded a plane with a ‘toy pistol’ at Shahjalal International Airport and hijacked it.

On Tuesday, CAAB suspended a security official for his failure to spot the firearm in Kanchan’s luggage.

Kanchan, an Ekushey Padak award-winning road safety activist, told the media he had forgotten to leave his licenced pistol at home.  

“After a search at the airport’s gate, I came to remember about the pistol at the boarding counter. I was surprised that it had not been detected by the scanner,” he was quoted as saying by different media.

“I informed the airport authorities about this immediately and they regretted immediately,” he claimed.

CAAB said in its statement that Kanchan “wrongfully issued false statements one after another to the media about the incident in order to save his own image.”

“In fact, the pistol and bullets were detected in Ilias Kanchan’s laptop bag by the scanner at the domestic terminal’s anti-hijacking point,” CAAB said.

“He admitted his mistake when the airport officials inquired about it. He then returned from that point as requested by the security officer on duty. He later flew to Chattogram by following the correct procedure,” it added.

On Feb 24, one Polash Ahmed carried a ‘toy pistol’ onto a Biman Bangladesh Airlines plane at the airport and hijacked it. Army commandos stormed the plane in Chattogram’s Shah Amanat International Airport after the passengers, pilot and crew members disembarked safely. The suspect was shot in the operation and later died.