Azad Mahmud, a passenger of Singapore Airlines flight SQ-435, was arrested for the attempt to smuggle foreign currency to Singapore.

Customs officials said they challenged Azad after being suspicious about his movement when he was entering the boarding bridge at 10:00pm.

The customs men searched Azad's luggage and found Saudi riyal, Malaysian ringit, Singapore dollar and local currency hidden in a pair of sandals.

During primary interrogation, Azad claimed that he did not know about the currencies.

He said one Mostak Ahmed of Tangail gave him the pair of sandals for his nephew living in Singapore. It has been learnt that his nephew's village home is in Comilla.

In another recent currency haul, the ZIA customs seized foreign currencies worth about Tk 2 crore from the luggage of a Singapore-bound passenger on February 23.

The currencies included euro, pound sterling, Singaporean dollar, Brunei dollar, Saudi riyal and some Singaporean metal coins.