The Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment sealed off a Dhaka-based recruiting agency and fined it 50,000 taka on Thursday after a raid uncovered irregularities in its handling of migrant workers' passports.

A mobile court led by an executive magistrate from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) raided Triple A Overseas (licence number RL-2630) on the instructions of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury.

A press release issued by the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment stated this. 

Inspectors found the agency had illegally retained three boxes of ordinary workers bound for Malaysia. Three boxes of passports were seized and placed in BMET custody, the ministry said in a statement.

Chowdhury said protecting the interests of migrant workers remained the government's top priority and vowed that no "dishonest or illegal" recruiting agency would be allowed to exploit ordinary citizens. 

He said the government maintained a "zero tolerance" policy and would pursue strict legal action against agencies that violate regulations or attempt to hold migrant workers hostage.

The ministry said the seized passports would be returned to their rightful owners through a legal process, while legal action against the agency was under way. 

It added that such raids would continue as part of efforts to ensure transparency and accountability in the overseas employment sector.