Online Desk: Members of Airport Armed Police Battalion (APBn) arrested an employee of Biman Bangladesh Airlines with 68 gold bars, weighing around 8 kilograms, from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in the capital on Sunday night.

APBn sources said that the arrestee Shafiqul Islam, 33, hailing from Khulna’s Daulatpur area, is an aircraft mechanic of Biman. APBn Additional Police Super Mohammad Ziaul Haque said that a Bangladesh Biman Flight BG-383 was taken to the hangar area for maintenance work around 9:30pm and it was evacuated around 10pm on Sunday.

After finishing their work, the aircraft’s technicians, cleaners, and other staff members departed but Shafiq was seen to board the airplane. After observing his suspicious movement, the APBn intelligence team detained the Shafiqul. Later, they found the gold bars hidden around his belt, Ziaul said.

The the market value of the seized gold bars worth around Tk 7.8 crore, he said. The official said that during interrogation, he didn’t give any clear answer about the source of the gold bars. He said steps were being taken to file a case against him.