Dhaka, May 13 railway ministry investigation has cleared former Railway Minister Suranjit Sengupta of any involvement in the 'cash scandal' involving his assistant personal secretary and two other top officials.
Railway Director General Abu Taher told journalists at his office on Sunday that a report on the findings would be submitted to the government on Sunday afternoon. The investigation details may be published later if the government wanted to.
"Former railway minister's APS Omar Faruque said that the Tk 7 million found in his car at Peelkhana belonged to him. No ties were found between the incident and the then railway Director General Yusuf Ali Mridha and rail police Commandant Enamul Haque," Taher said in response of a media query.
A large amount of cash was recovered from the vehicle of Sengupta's APS at the main gate of the BGB headquarters on Apr 9. Mridha and Haque were both present during the seizure.
Media reports attributed the cash to bribes taken in exchange for appointments in the railway, an allegation refuted by Faruque, a former Vice-President of Jahangirnagar University init of Bangladesh Chhatra League.
After the cash scandal surfaced, Mridha and Haque were temporarily suspended while Faruque was fired. Bangladesh Railway formed a committee to look into the accusations.
Suranjit took responsibility and resigned, but the government only relieved him of his ministry charges and retained him as a minister.
Answering journalists on the source of Tk 7 million Faruque had claimed to be his, Taher said it is not the job of the railway ministry but of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to look into it, which the ACC was doing.
Replying to another question as to whether the APS and the other two travelling with him in the vehicle were heading towards the railway minister's house, Taher said, "The government will answer to such question once the probe report is submitted."
According to Taher, involvement of East Zone General Manager Mridha and railway police's Dhaka Commandant Haque relating to the recovered money was not found.
Taher said that all the people including the eight members of Border Guard Bangladesh concerned with recovery of the money were questioned during the investigation. Only the driver of the car, Ali Azam, could not be questioned as he refused to appear before the investigators.
Taher added Azam was told to appear before the committee through newspaper advertisements and a letter had been sent to his home, as well.
"The probe body has prepared its report correctly even without the statement of Azam," he claimed.
Ali Azam has been missing since the money was recovered by the BGB.
The border guards told the committee that the vehicle was allowed to enter their headquarters without any check as the car bore a sticker meant only for the members of parliament.
But they could not confirm the amount of money being carried in the vehicle.
The probe body led by Abu Taher was formed on Apr 11 with a deadline of 20 days for submitting a report to railways Secretary Fazle Kabir.
কোন মন্তব্য নেই:
একটি মন্তব্য পোস্ট করুন