Police charge sheet/ Clash over currency smuggling, airport employee killed, body dumped on road side

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An employee of Chittagong’s Shah Amanat International Airport was killed after being abducted in a dispute related to foreign currency smuggling. Such information has emerged in the charge sheet given by the police.

According to the complaint given after the investigation, eight people including two employees of the airport took away civil aviation office assistant Usman Sikder from his house and killed him because he could not fully return the 37 thousand Saudi Riyals of smuggling. Later he threw the body on the side of the road.

However, the plaintiff alleged that the names of at least 10 other people involved in currency smuggling appeared in the confessional statement of the accused but they were not included in the charge sheet. Because of this, the court directed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the police to investigate the case further without accepting the charge sheet. Chittagong Metropolitan Magistrate Abu Bakkar Siddique gave this order at the end of March. The matter came to light after coming to the CID for investigation.

According to court sources, the judge mentioned in the order that the two accused in the case, Ibrahim Khalil and Farooq Uddin, have given a confessional statement under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Many others have been implicated. But the investigating officer did not make sufficient inquiries about them. As the matter of negligence is evident in the investigation, a supplementary investigation was ordered.

Earlier on January 12, the Patenga police station issued a charge sheet against eight people. They are Civil Aviation Authority electrician Ibrahim Khalil, security personnel Badal Majumdar and their associates. Arif, Md. Russell, Farooq Uddin, Nazrul Islam, Md. Suman and Babar Chowdhury. Some of them are on bail, the rest are absconding.

On December 11, 2024, Usman Sikdar was picked up from his house in the government quarters adjacent to the airport in Patenga area. The police recovered his body from the Airport Link Road area the next morning. There were injury marks on the head and body. The victim’s brother Emran Sikder filed a murder case as the plaintiff.

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According to the court sources, it is said in the statement given by the accused Ibrahim Khalil, about a month before the incident, Md. Fatikchari. A person named Russell made an agreement with Usman Sikder to smuggle 37 thousand Saudi Riyals. A portion of that money is shared among various individuals at the airport.

Later, Russell started asking for the return of Rial. At one stage, Usman threatened to reveal the names of those involved. In this situation, 9 lakh rupees out of 30 lakh rupees was returned through arbitration, but the remaining amount was not paid. It is mentioned in the deposition that the concerned persons got angry and killed Usman after kidnapping.

Ibrahim Khalil in his deposition named 10 other people involved in currency smuggling at Chittagong Airport. When asked about the omission of the names of the persons who came to the confession, SI Faridul Alam, investigation officer of Patenga police station said that sufficient evidence of their involvement was not found in the investigation. Immediately after the incident, they were transferred elsewhere.

The CID is currently investigating the case further on the orders of the court. Special Superintendent of Police of Chittagong Region of CID. Salahuddin said, according to the court’s instructions, the investigation is going on with utmost importance to identify the people involved in money laundering.

Emran Sikder, the plaintiff in the case and the brother of the victim, said, “My brother was pressured and 9 lakh taka was taken against 37 thousand riyals. Still he was not allowed to live. We want exemplary punishment for all those involved in the incident.