A Dhaka court on Sunday placed Soayeb Kazi Sajib, an assistant technical helper of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, on a five-day remand in a case filed over the smuggling of 14kg of gold worth around Tk25 crore at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Kamal Uddin passed the order after Investigation Officer of the case and Airport Police Station Inspector Sharif Hossain produced the accused before the court and sought a 10-day remand.

During the hearing, Sajib’s lawyer, Md Shahidul Islam, sought cancellation of the remand and prayed for his client’s bail, while the prosecution opposed it. After hearing both sides, the court granted five days’ remand.

According to the case statement, a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight that arrived in Dhaka from Dubai via Chattogram on 5 September was searched following a tip-off. As security personnel approached, Sajib, who was allegedly moving suspiciously inside the aircraft cabin, ran into the cabin and threw away gold bars that he had allegedly concealed on his body.

It was alleged that a packet discarded by him was recovered and found to contain 120 gold bars wrapped in cloth, weighing nearly 14kg. The estimated market value of the seized gold is Tk25 crore.

A case was subsequently filed with Airport Police Station over the incident.

In the remand plea, police said the accused is an active member of an international gold smuggling syndicate and has allegedly been evading customs duties by smuggling gold from abroad for a long time.

Intensive interrogation is necessary to identify and arrest the mastermind and his accomplices, the plea said.