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A legal notice has been served seeking live CCTV broadcasts of the entire baggage-handling process at Bangladesh’s airports to curb the theft of valuables from passengers’ luggage.
Supreme Court lawyer Md Mahmudul Hasan Mamun issued the notice on Monday to the secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB), chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), managing director and CEO of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, and directors and managers of the country’s major airports.
The notice said passengers, tourists, foreign diplomats, businesspeople and expatriate workers have long faced theft of valuables from their luggage at airports.
It alleged that an organised group steals mobile phones, laptops, jewellery, cash and other valuables by cutting open locked bags while they are being moved from aircraft cargo holds to baggage conveyor belts.
According to the notice, gaps in surveillance around runways and baggage-sorting areas, including locations without CCTV coverage, allow some ground-handling workers and loaders to carry out such thefts.
It called for the entire baggage-handling process—from unloading luggage from aircraft cargo holds and placing it on trolleys to transporting it across the ramp and loading it onto conveyor belts—to be covered by high-quality CCTV cameras.
The footage should be broadcast live on large screens in arrival lounges so passengers can monitor the process, the notice said.
It also called for any baggage opened or searched by customs or security agencies to be shown live on camera in front of the concerned passenger.
The notice further urged the ACC to establish institutional oversight and ensure transparent, merit-based recruitment of airport loaders, ground-handling staff and security personnel to prevent alleged bribery and irregularities in recruitment.
The lawyer has asked the authorities to introduce live CCTV broadcasts at all airports, ensure transparent baggage searches and take necessary administrative and legal measures within 10 days.
Otherwise, the notice warned, a writ petition would be filed with the High Court.