Three Bangladeshi nationals arrested over the suspected theft of cigarettes from a bonded warehouse have been released after police said that no official report of the theft had been filed.
Criminal Court ordered the conditional release of Rezaul Haqq, Manmaan Mondol, and Mohamad Sulaiman, employees of Senior International Pvt. Ltd., the company that operates the well-known Lotus stores.
Authorities had initially detained the trio based on suspicions involving missing goods from a warehouse operated by the company. However, after more than ten days in custody, police said no complaint regarding the missing cigarettes had been received, prompting the court to release the men on Friday under the condition that their passports be withheld.
The court said that the three were on valid visas.
The investigating officer told the court that the cigarettes were part of a stock that had gone missing from the bonded warehouse. Since bonded goods are held under customs supervision, they can only be removed after duties have been paid.
The unauthorized removal of these items constitutes a serious criminal offense, police stated.
The suspects, when questioned, claimed they were offered payment by another expatriate to load the cartons onto a pickup truck.
In total, 221 boxes were found packed in black bags abandoned on the roadside by a pickup truck attempting to flee on Bodurasgefaanu Magu. Police intercepted the vehicle during the incident.
