Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has decided to sue former
Communication Minister Syed Abul Hossain and former State Minister for
Foreign Affairs Abul Hasan on next Monday for their alleged
involvement in appointing consultation farm for Padma Bridge Project.
Prior to this, the ACC decided to file the case against seven people
excluding the accused ministers on Thursday.
But, later the ACC decided to include the names of two former
ministers in the case statement to ensure transparency and make it
acceptable to the World Bank (WB) as per the conditions for revival of
the WB funding, said reliable sources in ACC.
Sources said the decision of filing case came at an ACC meeting led by
its Chairman Ghulam Rahman on Thursday.
ACC sources said this is the first time they are going to file case
against the people who have been accused of conspiracies of
corruptions.
Sources said possible accused of the case are former Bridges
Division secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, Executive Engineer of
Roads and Highway Department Reaz Ahmed Zaber, SNC-Lavalin local agent
M Mostofa and its 3 officials, among others.
On July 29, the WB had cancelled its $1.2 billion credit for the $2.9
billion Padma Bridge Project saying it had credible evidence of a
corruption conspiracy involving Bangladeshi officials, executives of a
Canadian firm and some private individuals.
Later the WB gave several conditions saying if the conditions are
fulfilled; the WB would revive the loan deal.
According to the conditions, the ACC on December 3 interrogated former
Communication Minister Syed Abul Hossain and former state minister
Abul Hasan for their alleged involvement in appointing consultative
farm for the project.
The WB also formed a 3-member external panel to review the
investigation into the Padma bridge corruption allegation which
visited the capital for two times.
During the visit, the panel sat with different authorities of the
country including Anti Corruption Commission (ACC), Finance Minister
AMA Muhith but no progress came.
Later it said without fair probe in the alleged graft, the WB will not
revive the funding.
(Source: banglanews24.com)
