The Criminal Investigation Department on Thursday arrested a member of a human trafficking gang at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital.
The arrestee is Sakhawat Hossain, 42, of Feni, who had been involved in running a syndicate and kidnappings in Libya for a long time, said a CID press release.
The arrest was made during the questioning of the 175 irregular Bangladesh nationals, who had been residing in Libya without any legal status and were repatriated from Libya.
A press release issued by the Bangladesh foreign ministry on Thursday said that 175 people arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at about 6:15am on a special flight of Buraq Air from Benghazi.
鈥楾he CID, in collaboration with the National Security Intelligence Service, arrested Sakhawat at the airport while questioning and recording the information of the repatriated people,鈥� the CID said in its press release.
Sakhawat was accused in two cases filed in Dhaka and Narayanganj under the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act 2012.
The CID press release also said that Sakhawat confessed to illegally transporting 400 to 500 Bangladesh nationals from Libya to Italy in four boats, and extorted a huge amount of money.
During interrogation, information about several other human traffickers and their accomplices, including Biman Bangladesh Airlines鈥� traffic helper Md Showkot Ali, was found, the CID release said.
