Biman pilot mistakenly left passport in Dhaka office, probe finds

Biman pilot Captain Fazal Mahmud flew to Qatar earlier this month without a passport to bring back Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from abroad and was detained in the Doha airport for hours. Now a probe report concluded that it was a sheer mistake by the pilot.

“The pilot mistakenly left the passport in his office,” Additional Secretary Nasima Begum, the head of probe panel, told bdnews24.com on Monday.

Nasima, however, did not explain whether any recommendation was made to take action against the pilot. But several recommendations have been made in the investigation report, she added.

Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam said he received the report on Sunday. “I am yet to go through the report. But it makes five to seven recommendations.”

Asked what kind of recommendation was made, he said, "Any passenger or crew must follow the rules when they cross the immigration. Generic recommendations have been made."

After returning home, the prime minister at a news conference said, “One may forget his passport. But it is the immigration officials’ duty to check (if they have the right papers).”

Captain Mahmud travelled to Qatar on June 5 to operate a flight to fly back Hasina from abroad. When the issue of him not carrying his passport was discovered in Doha, another pilot was sent to operate Hasina’s flight.

The Department of Immigration and Passports later suspended a sub-inspector for negligence in checking Fazal’s passport. Two committees were formed to investigate the incident.