37 foreigners placed on 2-day remand
The 37 foreigners, who were arrested on charges of illegally operating a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) business at Uttara area in the city, were earlier involved in an illegal VoIP business in Sri Lanka and were jailed, sources in the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) said. A team of RAB-1 carried out a drive at a six-storey building at Uttara Sector-12 on Sunday night and arrested 43 people, including 37 foreigners, on charges of illegally running a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) business in the guise of a garments business.
Among the 43 arrestees, 37, including eight women, are foreigners: five are Chinese, 32 people are Taiwanese while six others are Bangladeshi nationals.
The team also seized a huge quantity of illegal Voice over
Internet Protocol (VoIP) equipment from their possession.
RAB-1 commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Kismat Hayat told The Independent, “We interrogated the arrested persons through a female interpreter on Monday night. They confessed that they were earlier involved in a VoIP business in Sri Lanka and were arrested there and were sentenced to different terms in jail.”
“We are trying to arrest the owner of the house, who has gone into hiding after the incident. We are also trying to trace the syndicate in the Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd (BTCL) which provided them illegal land phones lines and high-speed internet bandwidth to carry on the illegal VoIP business for a long time,” Hayat added.
The officer in-charge (investigation) of Uttara West police station, Ali Mahmud, told The Independent, “Nayak Subadar Abu Reza Mustafa Kamal of RAB-1 has filed two separate cases against the arrestees under the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act and for illegally staying in Bangladesh on Monday night. The case numbers are 35 and 36.”
“Nayak Subadar Abu Reza Mustafa Kamal of RAB-1 filed one case under the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act, mentioning the name of 43 people, while another case was filed against 14 foreigners for illegally staying in Bangladesh. Sub-inspector Mamunur Rashid of Uttara West police station was assigned the status of investigation officer in both the cases,” Mahmud added.
Meanwhile, a Dhaka court on Tuesday placed the 42 arrestees, including the five Chinese and 32 Taiwanese nationals, who were arrested on Sunday night from Uttara area in the city, on police remand for two days for their involvement in the illegal Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) business. The court placed another arrestee, Mozammel Hossain Rashed, on a one-day remand.
Sub-inspector Mamunur Rashid of Uttara West police station, who is the investigation officer of the case, produced Chinese nationals Liao Jinro (female), Liang Cheng Ming, Jheng Lee, Jheng Tao, and Yang Bo; Taiwanese nationals Chiao Wen Eng (female), Sengsi Yeon (female), Sengsi Ju, Sangseo Ta, Lee Chao Chang, Ling Si Chuan, Chang and Lian, Ho Yu Ting, Lee Yean Ting, Ling Sing Sen, Sing Sang Yean, Pan Yea Siang, Chang Yang Ju, Ling Sing Bing, Li Khuang Ju, Li Sia Ho, Wang Te Yang, Leo Teore, Chong Thing Hong, Tingway Hang, Thong Po Cheng, Chhai Hong Loye, Lui Chui Khayeng, Chu Chao Thing (female) Li Jai Jian, Cho E Eng (female), Li Fe Eng (female), Leyao Weng Yean, Leon Ji Sing, Yang Song Hang (female), Seye Fong Eyong and Seng Yang Liang; and Bangladeshi nationals driver Md Jakir Hossain, driver Helal Hossain, driver Habibur Rahman, security guard Md Kamrul Hasan, Mozammel Hossain (passport keeper) and driver Habibur Rahman before the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate’s court, seeking police remand for seven days in each case.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Rezaul Karim, however, granted a two-day police remand for 42 accused and one day for one accused.
The investigator, in his plea, pointed out that the arrestees have continued the illegal VoIP business for some time, “so we need to interrogate them to trace and identify their abettors”.
Meanwhile, Colonel Zakir Hossain, director of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), who is monitoring the incident, told The Independent on Tuesday: “We confirmed that the syndicate has continued the VoIP business through the public switched telephone network (PSTN), but are we yet to find any documents related to the incident. So we are continuing our investigation.”
-With The Independent input
