Fake travel-tax receipts at Benapole checkpost alleged to have cost crores in revenue; seven Indian travellers detained and released on bond

An organised broker syndicate has been accused of evading crores of taka in government revenue by using fake travel-tax receipts at the Benapole international checkpost in Jashore.

In the incident, customs authorities detained seven Indian passport holders on Wednesday morning (11 November). They were later released after giving undertakings that they would not be involved in such an offence in future.

The detained Indian nationals are Pranta Banik, Ranjit, Ratan Kumar, Biswajit, Yuvraj Saha, Deepa Rani and Dev Kumar.

Biswajit, one of the detained travellers, said that while returning to India from Bangladesh they had handed their passports to transport worker Milon Hossain Khan and his brother Ripon Hossain in the Benapole checkpost area after being told they would be taken quickly through immigration. The two men later supplied fake travel-tax receipts. When the travellers went to complete immigration formalities with those receipts, customs authorities detected the forgery.

It is alleged that the syndicate collects Tk 1,200 per person as travel tax from passport holders arriving by transport every day. It then has fake travel-tax and port-tax receipts made at various computer shops and hands them to travellers. It is alleged that government revenue has long been evaded using these fake receipts.

According to Benapole Port police station sources, the accused Milon Hossain Khan also faces a human-trafficking case.

Azharul Islam, assistant commissioner of Benapole checkpost customs, said there is information that a syndicate led by Milon Khan and his brother Ripon Hossain has long been evading government revenue through travel-tax forgery. The matter will be investigated and necessary action taken, he said.

Saifur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Benapole immigration police, said customs authorities had detained the seven Indian passport holders on allegations of travel-tax forgery. He commented that the crime is not stopping because no punitive action is taken against those involved in such forgery incidents.