Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – The government has deposited to the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country’s central bank, nearly 1794 kilograms of gold seized in last five years.
“A total of 1793.72 kg of gold seized on various occasions in the last five years were deposited with the central bank,” Finance Minister AMA Muhith told Parliament on Saturday while replying to a starred question from Jatiya Party MP MA Hannan (Mymensingh-7).
Noting that there is a number of cases filed in connection with incidents seized gold are pending with courts, the minister said the gold will be sold on auction and deposit the money to the national exchequer, if the gold is confiscated in favour of the government in the verdicts.
Some 719 kg gold has so far been seized in 327 incidents in the current fiscal of 2014-’15, according to the minister.
Bangladesh might have been used as a transit route of gold smuggling to India as the neighbouring country has imposed a heavy tax on importing gold, Mr. Muhith said highlighting the possible reasons behind gradual rise of smuggling.
