All 538 individuals who were fraudulently left in limbo have finally flown to Saudi Arabia to perform hajj. Victims of a private hajj agency fraud, at least 339 people finally flew to Saudi Arabia in a flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines last evening. This comes after the Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB) provided all kinds of assistance, including visas and tickets for the pilgrims. The intended hajis had arranged their pilgrimages through SM Travels and were scammed by the owner, Shah Alam, who went into hiding on June 14. They had paid approximately Tk 38 crore in package fee to Shah Alam, who left them in limbo.
HAAB sent all the 538 hajj pilgrims in three phases after the Saudi government gave Biman eight additional slots to operate hajj flights amid visa complications. At least 5,500 more hajj pilgrims, who were also facing visa complications, have confirmed their reservations to Saudi Arabia, totaling 10,000 so far. Of the total intended pilgrims, 10,360 will perform hajj under government management while 1.12 lakh people will perform hajj privately.
HAAB President M Shahadat Hossain Taslim promised to send all the intended hajj pilgrims, following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s strict instructions that no single hajj pilgrim is left behind. This development comes as the last of the scheduled hajj flights is to leave tonight, while hajj is scheduled to be celebrated on June 27.
By last night, a total of 1,12,636 out of around 1.22 lakh intended hajj pilgrims went to Saudi Arabia by 299 flights of Biman, Saudia, and Flynas, according to sources at the Hajj Camp. Secretary of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, A Hamid Zamaddar, confirmed that no one would face any complications with hajj flights from Bangladesh, as Saudi Arabia has authorized additional flights to cover the present capacity loss.
