The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has arrested a man named Md. Mikail Hossain alias Royal (31) along with a large consignment of Indian sarees and three-piece suits smuggled into the country illegally.
The raid took place late Saturday night (May 31) in the Madanpur area of Bandar Upazila, Narayanganj, where RAB intercepted a covered van and seized the contraband items, which have an estimated market value of approximately Tk 1.22 crore.
The arrestee, Mikail Hossain Royal, is the son of Abul Hossain from Palashi village in Monirampur upazila of Jashore district, though he currently resides in the Burichang police station area of Cumilla district.
In a press release issued on Sunday (June 1), RAB-11’s operations officer Md. Golam Morshed confirmed the incident to the media.
According to RAB, acting on a tip-off that a large consignment of Indian sarees and three-piece suits was being smuggled from Cumilla to Dhaka via covered van, a RAB-11 team launched an operation on the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway near Rafi Filling Station in Madanpur, Bandar. A temporary checkpoint was set up, and vehicles were being inspected.
RAB further stated that during the inspection, a suspicious covered van was signaled to stop. However, the driver, Mikail Hossain, attempted to flee but was captured after a brief chase. Upon searching the van, RAB recovered 3,971 pieces of Indian sarees and 354 pieces of Indian three-piece suits. Mikail was unable to produce any legal documents for the imported goods.
During initial interrogation, Mikail confessed to being involved in smuggling. He stated that the seized goods had been brought into Bangladesh illegally through the border areas of Cumilla, evading customs duties. The seized sarees are estimated to be worth around Tk 1 crore, while the three-piece suits are valued at approximately Tk 22 lakh.
According to Mikail, the owner of the covered van is Arif Majumder. Mikail has been working as the van’s driver for the past seven to eight months on a monthly salary of Tk 20,000. He also claimed that Arif’s manager Khoshru, along with several others, are involved in the smuggling operation. On the afternoon of May 31, Arif’s associates loaded the goods onto the van from the Kathepul border area in Kasba upazila of Brahmanbaria district. An unknown private car escorted the van on its way to Dhaka.
A case has been filed at Bandar police station against arrested driver Mikail Hossain Royal, as well as absconding individuals Arif Majumder, his manager Khoshru, and two to three unidentified suspects who are allegedly long-term operatives in this smuggling network.
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