Dhaka: Former Egyptian Ambassador to Bangladesh and Dean of Diplomatic Corp Mahmoud Ezzat on Thursday admitted that the seized luxury Range Rover vehicle is his own.

“This car is mine,” he told UNB adding that he was trying to finish all the procedures to transfer it to his country, Egypt.

But, he said, due to short of time before his departure he left the car in the residence of his friend Riyadh Ali whose wife is his cousin, the former diplomat claimed who is now in Dhaka.

“During my absence, my cousin has used my car. Now I came to Bangladesh in order to complete the procedures to transfer my personal car to Egypt,” Ezzat said.

Asked why he came to Bangladesh suddenly, the Ambassador said since it is his personal car, he came to Bangladesh to take legal steps to transfer.

Responding to a question, he said, “I'll stay (in Dhaka) till I finish all the procedures to transfer it to Egypt.”

He said no official asked him to come to Bangladesh to settle the issue. “As I’ve enough time, I came here now. I hope this (complete procedures) could take a few days.”

Asked about the car price, Ezzat said, “I’ve no idea about the price because I imported legally with permission from MoFA from London.”

Customs Intelligence officials said the car was seized on January 15 from a businessman’s Baridhara residence and its market price is around Tk 6 crore.

Ezzat arrived in Dhaka on Wednesday afternoon.