An assistant general manager of Bashundhara Multi Steel Industries Ltd (BMSIL) has been arrested for allegedly attempting to evade about Tk聽50 crore in store rent charges at the Chattogram Port by submitting a forged letter from the shipping ministry.
The arrested official was identified as Md Fayez who was apprehended on May 15 evening at the Shah Amanat International Airport by the detective branch of the Chattogram Metropolitan Police, said Kazi Mohammad Sultan Ahsan, officer-in-charge of the Bandar police station.
He said that a case was filed by the Chattogram Port Authority on May 15 on charges of fraud and revenue evasion.
Acting on the complaint,聽 multiple DB teams launched an operation that led to Fayez鈥檚 arrest.
Another individual was initially arrested but later released after preliminary interrogation revealed no involvement, he said, adding that Fayez was sent to jail following a court order on Friday.
Earlier on May 15, the CPA issued a press release signed by its secretary Omar Faruk, revealing that Bashundhara Multi Steel Industries submitted a letter seemingly signed by Nazrul Islam, deputy secretary of the shipping ministry (with additional responsibility for CPA), which claimed that the government had agreed to waive 60 per cent of the due charges under sections 22 and 23 of the Chittagong Port Authority Act 2022, on condition of clearing the imported goods within a month.
However, CPA officials grew suspicious of the letter鈥檚 authenticity and launched an internal investigation. Upon inquiry, the shipping ministry responded on May 14, stating that no such letter had been issued.
The CPA press release said that the forged letter was found to contain inconsistent language and a counterfeit signature.
The prime suspect involved in the forgery has been handed over to police and a formal case has been lodged with the Bandar police station.
The shipping ministry has also officially clarified that no store rent waiver had been approved in this matter.
According to the CPA, Bashundhara Multi Steel Industries had imported capital machinery using 204 TEUs of containers, comprising 95 forty-foot and 14 twenty-foot FCL containers,
via four separate vessels between June 12, 2024, and January 2, 2025. The company failed to clear the containers within the stipulated time.
Earlier, citing a letter from the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority, the company had requested a waiver of port demurrage and store rent from the shipping ministry. Following that request, on January 5, the ministry sought the CPA鈥檚 opinion on the
matter. In response, the CPA informed the ministry on January 19 about the due amount and advised appropriate action.
As of May 15, the Bashundhara Multi Steel Industries鈥� store rent due for the FCL containers stood at about Tk聽72 crore.
According to the CPA, the forged letter was an attempt to avoid paying nearly Tk聽50 crore of that amount.
