“On November 6, 2023 at 08:25 at night, 74 distinguished passengers departed for Dhaka from Sylhet in Biman flight BG606. Among these passengers, a significant number of passengers were passengers of Biman's Toronto flight (BG305/November 7, 2023). Officials in charge of the Sylhet station of the airline reviewed the travel information of the passengers and found that 45 passengers were traveling to Canada to attend a wedding on the invitation of the same person. The documents of the passenger were sent from Sylhet station to the Passport Control Unit (PCU) at Dhaka due to suspicion on immediate review of the documents. When the said unit sent the documents to the Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) in Delhi for verification, they first said that the passenger information in the passenger list in the CBSA system is correct. As a result boarding cards were issued to the passengers from Sylhet and the honored passengers reached Dhaka. Meanwhile, the Canada Border Service Agency has again informed that there is an error in the system regarding the stay (accommodation) with the information on the invitation letter of the passengers. Passengers are provided with documents of rented houses even though they are supposed to stay in a hotel in the invitation letter. According to Canadian law, there is no rule to have 45 occupants in a rented house and it is mentioned in the message as a fire code violation. 45 passengers were offloaded from the Toronto flight on November 7, 2023, following a review of passenger documents and Canada Border Services Agency messages and consultation with higher authorities. The details of the said passengers have been sent to the CBSA through the Passport Control Unit (PCU) in Dhaka and the CBSA informed that the visas of the said passengers have been sent to the immigration authorities. Canadian immigration authorities will inform the concerned passengers by email after further verification.

Read more: Hundreds Canadian visas on a fake wedding invitation!

When honorable passengers are offered hotels, they express their inability to go to hotels. When it was explained not to be sent on the Toronto flight, they understood the matter. Later, the immigration canceled their exit seal and the baggage was handed over and the passengers left the airport on their own. Dinner and breakfast are provided to honored passengers. Note that if the passenger does not have the proper documents or for such violation, the Canadian authorities may impose a fine of up to 3,200-20,000 Canadian dollars per passenger on the concerned airlines.” It is to be noted that although the incident happened eight days ago, Biman gave a statement on November 14. The airline authorities and the affected passengers were silent on the matter before Daily Dazzling Dawn published the news.