Customs official 'confined' by C&F staff
Some staff of clearing and forwarding (C&F) agents allegedly confined a customs official for over three hours, verbally abused him, broke his nameplate and hurled stones inside Chittagong Port yesterday.
Witnesses said Assistant Commissioner (AC) (Jetty Examination) Abu Hanif Mohammad Abdul Ahad refused speed money offered by one of the staff around 10:30am, requested him to leave and asked others to systematically submit documents.
Soon afterwards, Chittagong C&F Staff Union General Secretary Jakir Hossain entered the office and started verbally abusing the AC, accusing him of being slow in giving clearance to documents, they said.
Other staff then thronged the office to go on the rampage, chanting slogans calling the AC a “Razakar”, they added. Senior customs officials brought the situation under control around 3:00pm.
Talking to The Daily Star, the union leaders alleged that the agitation was over the AC's misbehaviour. The union President Kazi Khairul Bashar Milton said the staff were upset as the AC himself usually wanted to check all the containers he thought were suspicious, delaying the assessment process.
Sources in Chittagong Customs House said the AC was known for his honesty and he usually tried to run inspections in a systematic way.
Chittagong Customs House Commissioner AFM Abdullah Khan said he would investigate the incident.
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