Shamsher Mobin, wife not allowed to travel abroad

Trinamool BNP Chairperson Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury and his wife were denied permission to travel abroad and were sent back from Dhaka airport yesterday, as the immigration police allegedly did not allow them to board their flight without clearance from “top-level” authorities.
Contacted last night, Shamsher Mobin said they were headed to Bangkok for his wife’s medical treatment. They were scheduled to fly on a Thai Airlines flight at around 1:35pm yesterday.
He alleged that while they were waiting in the VIP room, the immigration police took their passports, claiming they needed to make copies.
“They kept our passports for a long time and delayed us deliberately. When I asked, they said I needed clearance from an intelligence agency,” he said.
“I’ve travelled abroad many times before and never needed clearance. The immigration police told me they couldn’t let me go because they hadn’t received instructions from higher authorities. They then advised me to seek permission from the top level of the interim government,” he added.
Mobin said he showed a 2010 court ruling saying that he should not face any obstacles when travelling abroad, but that was ignored. He was advised to contact higher authorities.
He then reached out to an adviser of the interim government, who told him to speak to either the home adviser or the home secretary. When he contacted the home secretary, he was informed that there was no official restriction on his travel.
“By then, the flight had already left. One official later informed me that while I couldn’t travel abroad, my wife was allowed to,” said Mobin.
An additional superintendent of police on duty at Dhaka airport around 11:30pm declined to comment on the incident, directing inquiries to the Police Headquarters.
Group Captain Kamrul Islam, executive director of Dhaka airport, said, “I don’t know about the matter. But if he had clearance from the Special Branch, he should have been able to fly.”
Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, a former vice-chairman of the BNP, resigned from all BNP positions in 2015. He later joined Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh in 2018 and, in September 2023, became the chairperson of Trinamool BNP, which was registered as a political party before the last national elections.