Duty-Free Imports: Probe body formed to look into Sinohydro’s rules violations

The government formed a five-member committee yesterday to probe the alleged illegal sale of construction materials imported duty-free for the Padma Bridge project by Sinohydro Corporation Ltd.

The National Board of Revenue's Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) made Deputy Director Ayesha Siddiqa the head of the probe body which has been asked to submit its report within 15 working days.

CIID officials said the committee was formed after The Daily Star ran a report on Saturday.

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Sinohydro flouting duty-free import rules

Additional Director General Minhaj Uddin of CIID Chattogram told The Daily Star, "The probe committee has been formed in Chattogram as most of the goods were imported through the Chattogram Port."

Meanwhile, the NBR's department for customs exemptions and project facilities directed all customs houses to report on the current status of consignments imported by Sinohydro, said Neyamul Islam, first secretary of the department.

He said Sinohydro, a Chinese state-owned company, did not take back the goods imported duty-free and did not take permission to keep the goods in the country for good.

Chattogram Customs House Deputy Commissioner AKM Khairul Basar said they formally received the NBR's instruction for collecting information yesterday afternoon.

He, however, said they had collected information on more than 1,300 consignments and were checking their status.

Saturday's The Daily Star report said Sinohydro imported equipment, vehicles, and accessories worth about Tk 1,145 crore over nine years using the duty-waiver facility, which restricts the sale or handover of the goods to anyone in Bangladesh without the NBR's permission.

But the company sold and were selling many of the goods.