5 held with 12.5kg gold in Dhaka

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) seized 12.5 kilograms of gold worth Tk 6.25 crore from Dhaka’s Khilgaon area and detained five people in this connection.

Acting on tipoff, the elite force followed a private car and challenged its driver near Khidmah Hospital area of Khaligaon around 11:20pm, said Lt Col Khandakar Golam Sarwar, director of Rab-3.

A total of 108 gold bars, one private car, one laptop, four passports, nine mobile phone sets, Tk 15,555, and some foreign currencies of Saudi Arab, United States, China, Jordan, Qatar and Dubai were seized from their possessions, he said.

The detainees were identified as Syed Mahmud Hasan Zabed, 37, Md Forkan, 27, Mehrunnesa, 45, Bibi Fatema, 30. All hailed from Raujan of Chittagong. Their driver Md Shamsul Alam, 44, of Patuakhali was also held.

“They have been involved in gold smuggling for some time,” the Rab-3 DG claimed adding that one Indian origin Iqbal was perpetrating this crime from Oman.

The detainees were heading to Bangshal with their possessions. Legal action will be taken against them, he added.