Dhaka, May 19 – Mobile phone traders of Bashundhora City Shopping Complex agitated on the street protesting the drive on their shops at complex by Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) on Saturday.The CIID conducted a drive at more than 100 mobile phone shops in the shopping complex from 11:00 am 11:00 am. During the drive, the CIID officials seized around 100 iPhone sets, suspecting that those were imported dodging all duties and taxes.
When the CIID came out from the shopping complex at around 1:00 pm, the mobile phone traders came out to the street (Panthapath) and swooped on the vehicles of the CIID team. They also demanded return of the seized mobile phone sets.
Later, the CIID team held a meeting with the traders inside the Bashundhara City Shopping Complex headed by Additional Director General of the CIID Kazi Mohammad Ziauddin.
After the meeting, the Additional DG Ziauddin said the seized mobile phone sets will be given back after scrutinizing their documents.
President of Bashundhara City Shopping Complex Mobile Market owners’ association Gulam Kutub Uddin said they are retailer not wholesalers. “ We sale mobile phone sets to customer…We are not importer,” he said.
Why they (CIID) do not want tax documents from importers and wholesalers. As a retailer, why we pay Tax, he said.
Gulam Kutob also alleged that the CIID has been conducting drives in Bashundhara shopping complex repeatedly . So far they seized mobile phone sets worth Tk five crore but did not give back a single mobile set. – News Desk
