Carrying Firearm: Another AL leader held at Dhaka airport

Police yesterday detained an Awami League leader for entering the domestic terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport allegedly along with a pistol and 32 bullets without any declaration.

Mujibur Rahman, agricultural affairs secretary of Satkhira district AL, entered the terminal around 6:00pm to fly to Jashore on a Novoair flight, said OC Noor-e Azam Mia of Biman Bandar Police Station.

Detecting the pistol and 32 bullets in his possession, the aviation security personnel handed Mujibur over to police. He would be produced before a Dhaka court today, the OC told The Daily Star.

Earlier on March 16, police had detained AHM Nurul Islam, bodyguard of Probashi Palli Group chairman, at the same terminal, for carrying a shotgun without informing the authorities. He was too scheduled to travel to Jashore from Dhaka on a Novoair flight.

In another incident at the terminal, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh detained Mohammad Masud Chowdhury, chairman of Phulsahara Union Parishad in Jashore's Chougachha upazila, on March 11 for carrying a pistol and seven bullets. He is also the general secretary of Chougachha upazila AL.

The arrests come after a passenger tried to hijack a Dubai-bound Bangladesh Biman flight on February 24, using a toy pistol and a bomb-like material. The incident raised serious questions over security at the Dhaka airport.