Jewellers threaten indefinite strike from Sunday

Bangladesh Jewellers’ Association today decided to go for strike for indefinite period from Sunday demanding formation of a gold import policy.

The association leaders took the decision at a meeting at its Dhaka’s Baitul Mukarram Market office, said its vice-president Enamul Haque Khan.

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They threatened to continue strike until a policy is formed and demanded return of the confiscated gold and diamonds of Apan Jewellers within 48 hours.

They also decided to submit a memorandum to the finance and commerce ministries on June 12 to press home their demands.

On Sunday, Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) confiscated 567.54kg of gold and 7,369 pieces of diamond from five outlets of Apan Jewellers in Gulshan, Uttara, Mouchak and Shimanto Square as its authorities could not produce valid documents for the ornaments.

There was no transparency regarding the gold worth about Tk 274.35 crore and diamonds worth around Tk 10 crore, CIID officials said.

CIID on May 14 and 15 primarily seized 498kg of gold and kept the ornaments at the respective outlets in accordance with the rules, and asked Apan owners to bring the documents to the CIID on May 17. The owners have not been able to produce the documents.

The CIID officials in May went for the crackdown amid allegation that Banani rape prime accused Ahmed Shafat, son of one of the owners of Apan Jewellers, bragged about being a gold smuggler.

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Shafat and the four other accused also boasted about their wealth and said police would not touch them when the two girls warned that they would go to the law enforcers, according to the testimony of one of the two girls.

Invited to Shafat's birthday party on March 28, the two girls went to The Raintree Dhaka around 9:00pm. After the party ended around midnight, Shafat and his friend Nayem Ashraf alias Halim raped them in two rooms, alleged one of the two girls who filed the case.

Shafat, and Nayem confessed to raping the girls while three other accused, Shafat's driver Billal Hossain, bodyguard Rahmat and the victims' friend, Shadman Sakif, admitted their involvement in the incident.