The court has sentenced two people named Lokman and Keramat Ali to seven years imprisonment in a case filed at the capital’s airport police station on charges of gold smuggling. Apart from this, the accused were fined 50 thousand taka, in default of payment they were sentenced to 5 months imprisonment.
Judge Tehsin Iftekhar of Dhaka’s Seventh Additional Metropolitan Sessions Court announced the verdict on Thursday (April 25).
Accused Lokman Bepari was present in the court when the verdict was pronounced. He was sent to jail on a warrant. As the other accused Keramat Ali is absconding, the court has issued an arrest warrant against him along with a sentence warrant.
According to the complaint of the case, Lokman and Keramat Ali, the named accused in the case, arrived at the domestic terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport from Chittagong by flight on the evening of February 8, 2018. Meanwhile, airport customs detectives and investigating officers followed the accused on the basis of secret information. The accused denied having the gold bars when interrogated at the inland arrival point. After searching them, customs detectives seized 5 kg 790 grams of gold.
In this complaint, Assistant Revenue Officer Tahmina Ima filed a case against the accused at the airport police station. On January 31, 2019, the investigating officer of the case, Deputy Inspector (SI) of Airport Police Station Mohammad Asaduzzaman filed a charge sheet against the accused. The court framed charges against the defendants on November 20 of the same year. During the trial of the case, the court accepted the testimony of seven people.
JA/MAH/JIM
