Habiganj, Aug 28 (V7N) — Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has seized a covered van carrying a large quantity of Indian tea leaves, henna and cumin allegedly concealed inside sacks labelled as fish feed in Madhabpur upazila of Habiganj.
In a separate operation on the same day, BGB personnel seized various Indian goods and a pickup van in Sreemangal upazila of Moulvibazar.
Habiganj 55 BGB disclosed the information in a press release sent to the media at around 11:30pm on Thursday.
According to BGB, a team conducted an anti-smuggling operation at the Surma No. 20 Tea Garden area of Madhabpur around 4pm on Wednesday. Acting on a tip-off, the team set up a temporary checkpoint about two kilometres inside Bangladesh from the border.
Sensing the presence of BGB personnel, the alleged smugglers abandoned the covered van by the roadside and fled. A subsequent search of the vehicle led to the recovery of a large quantity of Indian tea leaves, Kaveri henna and cumin concealed in sacks marked as fish feed.
The estimated seizure value of the goods and the covered van was Tk 91.70 lakh.
Earlier the same day, at around 5:40am, BGB conducted another operation in the Gandhi Chhara Tea Garden area of Sreemangal upazila, Moulvibazar.
During the operation, BGB seized an unclaimed pickup van along with Indian animal medicines, food products and shampoo. The estimated seizure value of the goods and vehicle was Tk 29 lakh.
The combined estimated seizure value of the goods and vehicles recovered in the two operations stands at approximately Tk 1.20 crore 70 lakh.
Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Tanzilur Rahman, commander of Habiganj 55 BGB, said operations against smuggling would continue to protect the border and prevent the illegal movement of goods.
He said intelligence surveillance had also been strengthened to prevent the unauthorised entry of Indian goods into Bangladesh.
BGB said the process of handing over the seized goods to the customs authorities is currently underway.
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