Import of drones through illegal channels has increased significantly in the recent months raising concern over aviation and civil security.
At least 65 drones, which were imported illegally, were seized by the Customs Authorities from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport during the last six months.
Earlier, the authorities have put restriction on drone import considering security threat.
Officials said although there is a ban on the import of drones into Bangladesh, any government and non-government agency, organisation or business firm can import drones for their uses prior authorisation from agencies concerned.
“The Custom Department has imposed ban on importing drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) due to security and safety concerns. It is currently illegal for civilians to use drones in Bangladesh,” Md Lutfar Rahman, Dhaka Customs Commissioner told The New Nation on Sunday.
“But the government and non-government agencies can be allowed to import drones and (UAVs) with approval from the Aviation and Defense Ministries,” he added.
Drones were created for military operations but now they are increasingly used in a variety of fields, including electric power industries, disaster-relief work, as well as shooting TV programmes, news broadcasting and capturing footage from sky.
“The device (drone) with four rotors has multipurpose use. It can be used in subversive activities also. Stopping a determined drone operator is difficult for aviation and security agencies. So, the authorities have imposed ban on their import considering security issues,” said Md Lutfar Rahman.
The Dhaka Customs official said, “We do not know the motive behind the rising trend of drone import through illegal channel. But it has sparked the doubt of improper use of drones into the country.”
“The seized drones were imported through false declarations under fake companies. We are working closely with the police and other agencies to trace the people behind this illegal activity and to deter potential offenses,” he added.
“Use of drones around airports could be a potential threat for flaying aircrafts. Just imagine when a remote controlled drone hit a flying plane…. It could bring a disaster. Operators of drones can carry out such disaster being involved in anti-state activities,” Air Commodore (Retd) Iqbal Hossain, former Chief of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) told The New Nation.
He suggested the government to approve uses of drones by private organizations after careful assessment of their purposes.
“A random use of drones can be a potential threat to the aviation sector and civil security if somebody does something dangerous. We have to fix best standard in operating procedures to curb the threat,” he added.
The authorities of CAAB earlier curbed flying of drones and UAVs in and around the airports and state’s Key Point Installations (KPI) considering security issues.
Insiders said drones have gained popularity across the countries due to their multipurpose uses. Many countries have allowed import of the device after formulating a policy that adopted best standard for their uses.
But in Bangladesh, import of drone the authorities has restricted denying the users to get benefit from the technology. So, such a policy led them to import drones and UAVs by adopting illegal means.
