State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism M Rashiduzzaman Millat has said that allegations circulating on social media about the luggage of 150 Hajj pilgrims being cut open and valuables stolen have been proven false in an investigation.
He made the statement on Thursday while briefing reporters at the Secretariat on contemporary issues related to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism.
The state minister said the investigation found no evidence of luggage mishandling at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. He also said no Hajj pilgrim had submitted any written or verbal complaint regarding the alleged incident.
According to Millat, 21 cases of luggage damage were identified. However, after analysing video footage, authorities found that the damage did not occur in Bangladesh. Rather, the luggage had already been damaged before arriving in the country.
Earlier, weather and climate researcher Mustafa Kamal Palash had alleged that 150 pilgrims' luggage was stolen at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. He also published a photo in a Facebook post, raising the allegation.
In that post, he claimed that 419 pilgrims returned to the country on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight last Tuesday night. About 150 of them had their luggage stolen and valuables were missing from there.
Bd-pratidin English/TR
