39 foreigners arrested in B'desh over illegal int'l calls

Thirty-nine foreigners, including five Chinese and 32 Taiwanese nationals, have been arrested in Bangladesh for allegedly offering illegal cheap international calls from an upscale area here, officials said today.
Officials from the elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) yesterday raided an apartment block and arrested the 39 foreigners, including seven women, on charge of operating illegal Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
"RAB personnel raided the building and arrested two Bangladeshis, five Chinese citizens and 32 Taiwanese men from capital Dhaka's Uttara area Sunday night at 10:00 pm," RAB spokesman Habibur Rahman said.
Acting on a tip-off, security personnel recovered VoIP instruments worth about 10 million taka (about USD 130,000) from their possession who had rented a six-storey building for offering cheap international calls, he was quoted as saying in media reports.
He said the arrestees, who were involved in illegal VoIP operation for over one and a half year, would be handed over to police.
The VoIP business has been booming in the country as over 10 million Bangladeshis presently live and work abroad.