7 including 3 Malaysians get life term

A Dhaka court yesterday sentenced seven people, including three Malaysian nationals to life term imprisonment for bringing 45 kg of gold into Bangladesh in October 2015.  

The Malaysian citizens, now in jail, are Hee Wool Khong, 28, Johari Bin Harun, 41, and Mohd Azwan Bin Salihin, 21.

Four other convicts -- Abul Hossain Khondaker, 34, Manik Mollah, 37, Sultan Mahmud, 25, and Atiar Rahman, 30 -- are absconding.

Judge Md Iman Ali Sheikh of the Fourth Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court of Dhaka handed down the sentence in presence of the three Malaysian nationals.

The punishment of the fugitives will be effective from the day of their arrest or surrender, the judge said.

Earlier, the prosecution and the defence completed their arguments and the court recorded statements of 11 prosecution witnesses.

Customs officials arrested the three with 45 kg of gold in their possession while they were passing through the green channel at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on October 10 in 2015 when they arrived from Kuala Lumpur on a Malaysia Airlines flight.

The smuggling case was filed with Airport Police Station.

After gleaning information from the Malaysians, four others were arrested later. The four Bangladeshis went into hiding after securing bail from the higher court.