Heroin Smuggling to UK: Intelligence, central bank find BD Foods link

Shariful Islam

Intelligence and central bank officials investigating the smuggling of 75.5kg heroin to the UK found links of BD Foods with the illicit dealing.

As BD Foods' link to heroin smuggling surfaced during the ongoing investigation led by a special superintendent (SS) of Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the investigators yesterday arrested Mohammad Mainuddin, manager of King and Company, a sister concern of the BD Foods.

In another significant development, the law enforcers arrested Abul Bashar Selim, owner of Green Heaven, a company against which smuggling of 54kg heroin to the UK was already detected.

Investigators arrested Mainuddin, who was earlier picked up for interrogation, after sufficient information and evidence were found against him and his organisation, sources said.

CID Inspector Nurul Islam, investigation officer of the case, produced Mainuddin before the Court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM), Dhaka with petition for a 10-day remand.

In the forwarding report, the investigation officer said bits of evidence are being found about Mainuddin's involvement with the heroin smuggling to the UK by which he fetched crores of taka. So, he needs to be quizzed intensively.

The court granted eight days' remand.

Mainuddin is said to be so faithful to his employers that he represented them before an investigation team of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) last year and a CID team this year headed by SS Ibrahim Fatemi.

Although the BD Foods has been repeatedly denying its links to the smuggling, an NBR report said it found many reasons to suspect the company of drug running.

The NBR started the investigation after the British Deputy High Commission in Mumbai, India informed it that five companies, including the King and Company, have smuggled 75.5kg heroin to the UK.

The investigation team earlier arrested sacked BD Foods official Nazmul Haider Chowdhury, and Abu Bakar Siddique Mithu, manager of BD Corporation, another sister concern of BD Foods.

Our Jessore correspondent reports: Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) members arrested Green Heaven's proprietor Abul Bashar Selim raiding a house at Shankarpur in Jessore town early yesterday.

Sources said the investigators took Bashar to the CID headquarters in Dhaka yesterday morning and were supposed to start interrogating him in the evening.

ZAFAR REZA ON FRESH REMAND
The CMM court yesterday sent owner of Rainbow Enterprise Kazi Zafar Reza, who was arrested in the

city's New Elephant Road area on April 27 for his connection with Bashar, on a five-day fresh remand.

Zafar allegedly paid the freight charges of the heroin consignment on behalf of Bashar.