DHAKA: Bangladeshi police have arrested the alleged mastermind of a suitcase-stealing ring at Dhaka airport and recovered tens of thousands of dollars worth of goods, a senior officer said Tuesday.
Joynal Abedin was caught red-handed by police as he tried to carry a large flat-screen television out of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Monday, airport police chief M Shamsuddin said.“We carried out raids all last night based on his information. We have seized more than 1,000 goods including blankets, televisions, bags, shoes, cosmetics, pressure cookers,” he told AFP.
“It took three pick-up vans to carry the items to the police station,” he said, adding 40-year-old Abedin was also arrested a year ago on similar charges although has seemingly evaded prosecution.Police chief Shamsuddin said Abedin had made so much money from the airport racket that his two children were being taught at expensive educational institutes in England.
“We think he is the leader of a luggage stealing racket at the airport. We have been carrying out series of raids to nab the other members of the gang,” he said.Imported consumer goods are heavily taxed in Bangladesh and many citizens prefer to hand-carry electronic goods on flights to avoid paying import duties. – Dawn
