CIID seizes 495kg gold of Apan Jewellers

Customs Intelligence officials have confiscated around 495 kilogrammes of gold of Apan Jewellers as it failed to show valid documents for the gold.

They raided five outlets of the jewellery house and sent the confiscated items to Bangladesh Bank, AKM Nurul Huda Azad, an additional director general for customs intelligence, said.

Today’s raid was prompted by the incident of Banani rape which brought up allegations against Ahmed Shafat, son of the owner of Apan Jewellers, of boasting about his father’s wealth.

The CIID officials held 498-kg of gold and some diamonds from five outlets in Gulshan, Uttara, Mouchak and Shimanto Square on May 14 and 15. The authorities kept the ornaments at the respective outlets, in accordance with the rules, and asked the shop authorities to bring the documents to the CIID office.

There was no transparency regarding the gold worth around Tk 250 crore, said an official concerned.

The owners were first interrogated on May 17 when they sought 15 days to produce the valid documents. They failed to meet the deadline and sought more time to gather papers.

Customs intelligence official Nurul Huda assured that most of the gold is undocumented. “Only a small portion, not more than 12kgs, belongs to customers who have already paid for the gold.”

The CIID official in May went for the crackdown amid allegation by one of the Banani rape victims that the prime accused Ahmed Shafat, son of one of the owners of Apan Jewellers, bragged about being a gold smuggler.

Customs intelligence officials weighing the confiscated gold Apan Jewelers after it failed to produce valid documents on June 4, 2014. Photo: Palash Khan

Invited to Shafat's birthday party on March 28, the two girls went to The Raintree Dhaka around 9:00pm. After the party ended around midnight, Shafat and his friend Nayem Ashraf alias Halim raped them in two rooms, alleged one of the two girls who filed the case.

Shafat, and Nayem confessed to raping the girls while three other accused, Shafat's driver Billal Hossain, bodyguard Rahmat and the victims' friend, Shadman Sakif, admitted their involvement in the incident.