S.A. Shofiee, Sylhet :
Smuggling of cattle, clothes, spices and illegal drugs has become rampant at border areas of Sylhet districts ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha festival.
According to local sources, new smuggling routes have been opened by different gangs of smugglers at the border with India, allegedly with the backing of local influential people.
Smuggling goes on unabated there ahead of major festivals. Cows, sarees, sugar, salt, cumin (jeera), phensidyl syrup, electronics, bicycles and spare motor parts are being smuggled into the country from India in large quantities everyday.
During a recent visit to the border areas, this correspondent saw rickshaw vans being loaded openly with smuggled Indian goods at Jointapur upazila.
At the Jointapur upazila, groups of labourers were seen carrying Indian goods on their heads and on bicycles across the border. It was also found that a group of Indian smugglers were waiting at the border to collect their share of the profit from their Bangladeshi counterparts. However, no one from the border security agency appeared to check the smugglers activities. Some local people alleged that the smugglers carry their goods across the border, mostly at night, after paying bribes to a section of dishonest members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and police. The smuggled goods are stored in the houses of the smugglers overnight, and at day break, those are sent to various markets through local transport.
The smuggling gangs usually engage poverty-stricken women and children, and unemployed youths to carry the goods across the border. Women usually carry sarees and cosmetics, while children carry salt and sugar in small quantities. Some women and children are also used to smuggle bottles of Phensidyl and other drugs.
On the other hand, young men are engaged to carry heavy items, like bikes and motor parts, and other valuable contrabands. BGB members and police sometimes seize consignments of smuggled goods, but that has not affect on the illegal activity.
Noor-e Alam Mina superintendent of police at Sylhet district also said police were keeping extra vigil to check smuggling ahead of the Eid festival.
Fake cosmetics flood city markets ahead of Eid: A section of unscrupulous traders are producing and selling fake and substandard beauty products ahead of Eid al-Azha in the Sylhet city.
Such harmful cosmetic products have flooded the city markets ahead of Eid and the unscrupulous businessmen are making hefty profits by selling those counterfeit products allegedly with the help of some law-enforcers.
These cosmetics are made with harmful chemicals and can cause serious harm to skin instead of serving the purpose of enhancing beauty of the users, experts said.
Sources said, after tagging the labels of various reputed international and local brands on the products, the traders later supply the fake cosmetics to the shops in the city and elsewhere of the country. According to the sources, factories producing such cosmetics have mushroomed in Laldighirpar, Shekhghat, Hokarmarket, Bandarbazar, Shibgonj, Tarminal, and Surma market areas.
Fake beauty products like moisturizer, nail polish, lotion, cold cream, face wash, cleanser, soap, powders, snows, lipsticks, lotions, shampoo, conditioner, bleach, hair dyes, oils, shaving creams and depilatories are produced in these factories.
