Owner of The Raintree Dhaka, the upscale hotel in the capital’s posh area Banani where two university girls were raped allegedly in March, has been quizzed by customs intelligence.

The hotel’s owner and Managing Director Shah Md Adnan Harun, along with his uncles Mujibul Hoque Kamal and Akbar Hossain Manju and a lawyer Jahangir Kabir, appeared in Kakrail around 11:00am to offer explanation for the VAT dodging and liquor find in the hotel.

After quizzing, Moinul Khan, director general of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID), said the owner could not offer satisfactory answers for the finds.

READ MORE: Univ girls 'raped after birthday party at hotel'

Adnan Harun, however, told reporters that he had paid the VAT dues and that the liquor find may have been due to a cause of negligence from on behalf of the hotel management.

Investigation is still underway in this regard. Moinul Khan said, with evidence, the customs intelligence will recommend suing The Raintree in three cases – VAT dodging, tax dodging and illegal liquor.

The hotel has come under the radar of customs intelligence, which found Tk 8 lakh VAT graft into Raintree’s account in the lone month of its legal operation in April and 10 bottles of liquor kept without license.

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The CIID had asked owner Adnan Harun to appear on May 17 for the explanation. Adnan sought time to appear before the customs intelligence citing reason that he was sick.

Under public outrage over allegations of siding with the rapists and trying to cover up the incident initially, the hotel authorities later said they demanded punishment for the rapists.