The Bangladesh Biman pilot who went to Qatar without a passport to bring back Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina denied being held or arrested at the immigration in Doha airport.
Captain Fazal Mahmud said that he forgot his passport but didn’t face any issues at Doha immigration.
“I usually keep my passport inside a bag that I carry during flights,” he told Bangle Tribune over the phone on Friday (Jun 7).
“I took it out of the bag on Jun 3 for some banking work and forgot to put it back. It was all a mistake,” he added.
The captain said that he wasn’t arrested at Doha like the media made it out to be as he hadn’t even gone through immigration.
He said that usually the pilots and the crew check into Qatar’s Crown Plaza Hotel but this time he didn’t go there as he didn’t have his passport on him.
“I checked into Hotel Oris Airport at the transit area of Doha International Airport instead,” he added.
Captain Mahmud said that he went to the regular hotel after his passport was sent to him from Bangladesh.
“I faced no issues at the immigration but the media said that I have been arrested,” he said.
Responding to queries on how he passed the immigration at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport he said that since everyone was in a festive mood on the occasion of Eid, they missed it.
“If the immigration at Shahjalal had asked for the passport the whole thing could’ve been avoided. To be honest both me and Dhaka immigration made a mistake.
He added that they are usually cleared after the general declaration copy is shown and the fingerprint is scanned. They just have to show the passport before boarding a flight.
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