Is a government official above the law?
There is a legal bar to arrest any government official directly, so we handed him over to his department(DGHS) concerned to take action. At that time, they said legal action would be taken within 48 hours.
Despite being caught red-handed with gold bars at the airport, the authorities concerned are dilly-dallying in taking any legal action against a physician of Chattogram Shah Amanat International Airport.
Officials of Bangladesh Customs and Directorate General of Health Services have said they are waiting for the findings of the probe committee of DGHS in order to take legal action.
However, the two-member probe committee has yet to submit its findings.
On January 29, customs officials arrested Dr MZA Sharif, a health officer at Shah Amanat International Airport, while he was carrying four gold bars.
Sharif, a Cadre (Health) of 27th BCS, used to work at the airport's Emergency Medical Services Department. After the incident, he was closed from the airport and was later attached to Chattogram Divisional DGHS office.
Usually, when someone is arrested with smuggled gold bars, customs officials file cases against them and hand them over to Patenga Police Station for further legal procedure.
But in Sharif's case, no legal action has been taken so far, even though he was caught red-handed.
Talking to The Daily Star, customs officials said according to the rule, direct legal action cannot be taken against Dr Sharif since he is a government officer, which is delaying the legal procedure.
Assistant Commissioner (AC) of Customs, Alif Rahman, said, "After detaining Sharif, we provided all the evidence to DGHS officials so that they can take action in this regard. We provided CCTV footage, documents, and everything else."
"There is a legal bar to arrest any government official directly, so we handed him over to his concerned department to take action. At that time, they said legal action would be taken within 48 hours. We have already filed a case with the Customs department," he said.
"DGHS said action would be taken upon receiving their probe findings. If they delay the investigation process, it's unacceptable. I will inform my department's higher-ups in this regard," Alif also said.
Meanwhile, Dr Mohammad Mohiuddin, divisional director of Chattogram DGHS, said, "Please ask customs officials why they didn't take any legal action against him at that time.
"However, we have recommended taking departmental action against Sharif. Now, the health ministry will take the decision," he added.
Chattogram DGHS's Assistant Director and chief of the DGHS probe committee, Suman Barua, said, "Due to the delay in getting CCTV footage from customs, the probe committee cannot take its last decision. We are checking the footage, and we have already submitted a partial report to our office."
On August 21 last year, Revenue Officer KMM Salim of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Department was caught smuggling six gold bars out of the airport. He was promptly transferred, but no action was taken against him.
Advocate Akhtar Kabir Chowdhury, president of Chattogram city unit of Concerned Citizens Committee-TIB, told The Daily Star, "It's a criminal offence according to law. I don't know how customs let that doctor go or hand him over to his authority without filing a criminal case."
"They (Customs) helped an alleged criminal roam freely, saying that he is a government officer," he added.
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