2 held with 9,000 litres of stolen oil

Rapid Action Battalion (Rab-7) in a drive yesterday seized a tanker truck carrying 9,000 litres of stolen furnace oil and arrested two persons from port city's Panchliash area.

The arrestees are Md Rizwanul Haque (35) and Md Rahman (34), said Rab sources.

According to Rab, the two are part of a smuggling gang. They used to smuggle oil from abroad through ships and unload those at the outer anchorage to evade tax.

"Tipped off, we arrested the duo from the entry point of a flyover in Shulokbahar area around 2pm," Assistant Superintendent of Police Tarek Aziz, also operation officer of Rab-7 (Chandgaon camp), told The Daily Star.

"They were planning to take the oil to Sitakunda after unloading in Bridge Ghata area of Karnaphuli upazila," said ASP Aziz.

The Rab official said, "Every month, the syndicate used to smuggle two consignments through deep sea."

"We are not sure whether the consignment was smuggled from a mother vessel or government vessel. We'll know the details after interrogating them," he added ASP.

Maj Shamim Sarkar, deputy director of Rab-7, said they have gleaned names of some syndicate members from the duo and actions will be taken against them.

ASP Aziz said a case was filed with Panchlaish Police Station in this connection.