Two Biman Bangladesh Airlines staffers have been grounded for concealing that a flight attendant’s dope test results came back positive right before the prime minister’s flight to London on Sept 21.

The flight attendant, Masuda Mufti, however, was not allowed to board the VVIP flight and was grounded on Sunday (Sept 23), said the spokesperson of the national flag carrier.

The next day, Deputy General Manager (flight services) Nuruzzaman Ronju, who allegedly concealed the results, was grounded, said General Manager (public relations) Shakil Meraj.

“The crew has to go through a dope test before every flight as a safety measure. The same procedure was followed for the PM’s flight, when Masuda Mufti’s results came back positive and Nuruzzaman Ronju did not report it to the authorities,” he told Bangla Tribune.

A departmental inquiry has been opened over the incident, added the Biman official.

Sources at Biman said that Mufti was taken off from the list of crew for the PM’s flight, but as the incident was not reported to the concerned authorities. She was assigned for a Singapore flight the next day (Sept 22).

According to Biman regulations, a staffer will not be illegible for in-flight duties for 90 days after found positive in the dope test.

On Friday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina flew for London, where she boarded a British Airways flight for New York to attend the UN General Assembly.

She is expected to return Dhaka on Oct 1.