Indian cloths worth Tk 3cr seized in city
Rapid Action Battalion seized a large consignment of Indian cloths worth around Tk 3 crore from Moitree Express, a passenger train from Kolkata, at Cantonment Railway Station in the capital Wednesday night.
The elite force also held 15 people on suspicion, nine microbuses and one taxicab from the spot in this connection.
Acting on a tip-off, Rab-1 searched Moitree Express and found illegal clothes brought from India, said Rab at a press briefing in its headquarters at Uttara.
The consignment contained Indian saree, three pieces and cloth for shirt, pants and Punjabi.
Major Mustaque Ahmed of Rab-1 said on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr, smugglers have upped their activities.
They are illegally bringing in foreign garments and clothes at the cost of local garment factories, Mustaque said.
A huge amount of Indian clothes has been smuggled to Bangladesh by Moitree Express depriving the government of huge revenues, he added.
The arrestees were paraded before the journalists at the press conference but none of them confessed to their involvement with the crime on interrogation.
Of the arrestees, seven were microbus drivers. They were hired from the Shahjalal International Airport.
Major Md Rafiqul Islam of Rab-1 said the consignment of clothes was heading for big brand shops in the capital.
Each saree might cost Tk 10,000 to 15,000, Rafiqul said.
Seeking anonymity, some employees of Cantonment Railway Station said Moitree Express comes to Dhaka twice a week-- Wednesday and Saturday.
They said passengers have been carrying huge luggage over the last two weeks.
Customs officers at the railway station rarely scan luggage coming from India, they added.
The employees said none of the customs department was available at the station yesterday.
Locals said they [customs officers] come to the station only when the Moitree Express arrives and go away when the train leaves the station.
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