Ailing Biman wakes up to rude reality
Biman has finally decided to improve surveillance on its staff after doing nothing for seven months since 105kg gold was found in the toilet of a plane.
This too had to be done by the civil aviation minister's influence, not by Biman on its own accord.
Days after the haul on April 26, customs intelligence wrote to the managing director of Biman to beef up cargo hanger, aircraft security and improve staff surveillance at Shahjalal International Airport.
Biman just sat on the letter for months even though several other hauls were seized at the airport afterwards. Its managing director could not even remember the letter.
“Neither the Biman management nor the Biman Board took any initiative to that end,” said an official of the civil aviation ministry wishing anonymity.
“Biman has its internal security mechanism. Had the management taken any measures to stop smuggling of gold by its staff and officials, the illegal activity could have been stopped,” the official added.
The official said they wrote again to the Biman management after one of its cabin crew member, Mazharul Afsar Russell, was arrested on November 12 with five gold bars weighing 2.6kg.
Following his confession, detectives arrested five people, including three top Biman officials and the alleged godson of Biman chairman.
Biman's acting managing director AM Mosaddique Ahmed last night said he could not recall whether he had received such letters. He claimed that they had given instructions to all its officials and staff not to get involved in any illegal activities.
In the wake of the arrests of top Biman officials, Civil Aviation Minister Rashed Khan Menon yesterday convened a meeting of the Biman Board at the ministry where Biman Chairman Air Marshal (retd) Jamal Uddin Ahmed was present.
In a TV talk show earlier, he had expressed disappointment that he had to learn about the Biman officials being arrested from the media. He had said neither Biman nor its chairman had informed him of the matter.
The meeting decided to bring the entire cargo hangar area under CCTV coverage, Biman cockpit and cabin crew members would be allowed to bring in only a fixed amount of goods from abroad, and flight schedule would be strictly monitored.
The meeting was told that gold could be smuggled on board Biman planes at airports abroad by delaying the flights and such delays would now be monitored.
The Biman Board asked that meetings of the taskforce, composed of different agencies working at the airport, be held every month instead of every three months.
Moinul Khan, director general of customs intelligence, said they had seized 677kg gold and arrested 88 people at the country's three international airports in the last 17 months. A section of the arrestees were staff of Biman and Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh.
Besides, Armed Police Battalion personnel seized 112kg gold and arrested at least 25 people in the last two years at Shahjalal International Airport, said officials.
Last month, a four-member probe body headed by Moinul found that 14 people, including 10 low-level officials and staff of Biman, were involved in the smuggling of 124 kg gold worth Tk 54 crore on July 22.
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