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A mysterious incident unfolded at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka when 71 passengers booked on a Malaysia-bound flight failed to board despite having collected their boarding passes and completed immigration formalities.
The incident came to light after five passengers were reportedly found carrying fake Malaysian e-visas at the boarding gate.
According to a report by Dhaka Post, Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight BG-386 departed for Malaysia from Dhaka at 8:35pm on Saturday aboard a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Although 245 passengers were scheduled to travel on the flight, 76 passengers ultimately did not board.
Airport sources said five passengers were identified with fake Malaysian e-visas during final document checks at the boarding gate. Following the discovery, several other passengers waiting in the boarding queue suddenly left the area. Many later cancelled their immigration departure clearance and re-entered the country. In total, 71 passengers reportedly chose not to board the flight voluntarily.
Sources further claimed that the visas of all 76 passengers had been marked as “verified” at the check-in counters and boarding passes were issued without proper verification. They subsequently cleared immigration and were permitted to depart.
However, the fake e-visas of five passengers were detected only at the boarding gate.
The incident has raised questions about how passengers carrying suspected fraudulent visas managed to clear multiple layers of document verification, including check-in and immigration, before being stopped at the boarding gate.
Airport-related sources claimed that all 76 passengers were travelling on tourist visas to Malaysia. Investigators suspect that some may have intended to remain in the country after arrival, allegedly with the assistance of a travel agency.
An eyewitness said several passengers were separated for questioning during boarding. After reports spread those irregularities had been found in some visas, several others left the boarding line. Shortly afterwards, a number of passengers were officially offloaded, creating anxiety and confusion in the boarding area.
Repeated attempts to obtain comments from officials at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport were unsuccessful.
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