Burimari land port under Patgram upazila of Lalmonirhat may face an indefinite closure following a tussle between Bangladesh Rifles and C&F agents of the port.
The conflict started with BDR recovering contraband beetle nut worth Tk 65 lakh Tuesday.
The C&F agents demanded the consignment back; otherwise they threatened to siege the BOP Thursday and vowed to stop the port from Saturday.
Meanwhile, BDR and C&F agents were providing contradictory statements over the issue.
Hasanujjaman, president of the C&F Agents Association and its secretary Golam Rabbani Julfi jointly rejected any accusation of smuggling.
They said, "Jamuna Trading, an export oriented company, bought the beetle nuts weighed at 28 thousand and 56 kg from Bagerhat and sent to Golam Rabbani Julfi for exportation through Burimari border area."
"Since Burimari land port is not permitted to export the beetle nut, procedures were on the way to send the consignment back," they said.
They alleged BDR seized the beetle nuts as contrabands at the time and handed over four persons to Patgram thana police in this connection.
Meanwhile, BOP company commander Subedar Bahar turned down the accusation saying, every year smugglers illegally traffic items like beetle nuts. Captain of 19 Rifles battalion Shafat supported the stand the BDR took.
However, the C&F agents demanded their goods to be given back to them within 24 hours, or else, they threatened closure of the port for indefinite period.
Tense situation prevails at the land port now.
