Union council chairman detained with pistol at Dhaka airport

A union council chairman has been detained with a pistol at Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, five days after a similar incident involving actor Ilias Kanchan led to the suspension of a security official.

Masud Chowdhury, chairman of Fulsara Union Parishad at Jashore’s Chougachha, was detained for carrying a gun into the airport without notifying the officials about it on Monday afternoon, the civil aviation and tourism ministry said in a media release.

Security officials detected a pistol and seven bullets while scanning his handbag at the domestic terminal’s check point, the release said.

“The airport authorities handed Masud Chowdhury to police after initial interrogation for illegally carrying a pistol and bullets in his handbag without prior declaration,” it added.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh, or CAAB, suspended an official at the airport over a lapse which allowed Ilias Kanchan to pass through the first phase of security with a firearm on Mar 6.

CAAB also said Kanchan, an actor who won Ekushey Padak for his contribution in road safety movement, had lied to media after being caught with the gun in the second phase of security check.