The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has covered up the loss of Tk 600 crore in the name of quarrying stones in granite mines. The investigation officer submitted a report to the commission recommending four cases after finding evidence of this terrible corruption in the public investigation of the organization. 13 top executives of Petrobangla, Bapex and Granite Mines were recommended as accused in the case. The Commission did not consider the report and sent it back with a ‘quarry’. The Inquiry Officer, in response to the query, remained firm in recommending the case. After that, he was removed and a new investigating officer was appointed. After investigating for more than 2 years, the second investigating officer changed the report of the first officer. He submitted the inquiry report recommending the closure of the complaint. This information is known from ACC sources.
10 million taka has been transacted to prepare the complaint termination report by changing the report recommended by the concerned parties! In exchange of this huge bribe with the connivance of the higher-ups of the ACC, the accused have been released. However, to avoid liability, the ACC sent a letter to the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources to investigate the incident. Those concerned said, in this incident, it is clear that there is a ‘ghost of corruption’ within the ACC. If this ghost cannot be removed through reforms, the desired change in the work of ACC is not possible. And an ACC official said that if the complaint is investigated anew, there is information that many Raghabboals including former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be caught in this corruption incident. For this reason, the process of starting a new investigation has already started on the order of the ministry. Executive Director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB). Iftekharuzzaman said, the ACC investigates on the recommendation of the scrutiny committee only after having credible concrete evidence of corruption and money embezzlement. Where inquiry officer recommended case after 2 years of investigation, submission of report for termination by another officer is questionable. Moreover, where there are allegations of corruption against officials working under the ministry, there is no justification for sending a letter to the ministry asking for an inquiry into this complaint. It is natural to question whether this has been done to give concessions to the powerful.
According to documents obtained from the ACC, the government is said to have embezzled 600 crores with the connivance of the board of directors of Madhyapara Granite Mining Company Limited. In 2019, the then assistant director of the ACC was given the responsibility of investigating the allegations of corruption. Ahsanul Kabir Palash. After the investigation, he submitted a report to the commission in June 2021 recommending the prosecution of 13 top officials of government organizations Petrobangla, Bapex and Granite Mining. In a multi-pronged ‘campaign’, the Commission sent back the file with a ‘quarry’ without taking the recommendation of the case into consideration. Quarry says, ‘Agreements need to be looked at in depth. What is the ‘short fall’ in the deal? How much sand was in the contract? I think there is a report in the ministry about this. Please ask the Ministry for reports and comments on complaints. Then we can decide to end the trial.’ Based on the information found in the in-depth review of the records, the inquiry officer recommended the case in the resubmitted report in response to the query. There, he said, “According to the terms of the contract, the board of directors’ meeting held on June 12, 2018, decided to collect compensation from Germany Trust Consortium (GTC) for the production of dust in excess of the amount specified in the contract.” The report also says, ‘When requested to provide the ministry’s report regarding the quarry, the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources said that the matter of the theft of 600 crore rupees by Madhyapara Granite Company Limited can be considered settled.’
It is known that on the basis of this opinion of the ministry, the commission did not approve the case and the investigating officer was removed and the discussed ACC officer, Deputy Director Syed Nazrul Islam, was given the responsibility of investigation anew. It was then that the search took a dramatic turn. Allegedly, as the previous officer could not be forced to recommend closure of the complaint, he was changed and the file was handed over to Nazrul, who is known as the ‘submissive’ of the commission. According to those concerned, Nazrul submitted a report to the commission recommending the termination of the complaint in exchange of a bribe of Tk 10 crore with the connivance of the top officials of ACC. After that, the complaint was concluded in the commission meeting. However, the commission sent a letter to the ministry to investigate the complaint in order to avoid their liability.
What was in the complaint: It is known that Madhyapara Granite Mining Company works with GTC to operate mines and extract stones. But due to the company’s inefficiency and mismanagement in this work, hard rock production collapsed. From February 2014 to February 2020, a total of 9.2 million tons of stone was supposed to be extracted. But the company extracted only 3 million tonnes of stone during the contract period. In the second year of the contract period, the poor condition of the work became evident. In the second year, 5 lakh tons instead of 14 lakh tons of the contract, only 1 lakh tons against 16 lakh tons in the third year and 4 lakh tons of stone against 17 lakh tons in the fourth year. According to the mine authorities, stone extraction was stopped for one year during the contractual period. The state has suffered a loss of at least Tk 600 crore due to not excavating the specified amount of stone within the contract period. However, no action was taken against the company for mysterious reasons.
It is also known that GTC got the responsibility of operating the mine and extracting stone from 2014 through the government contract. According to the contract of 1 thousand 400 crore rupees executed with the company, there was an obligation to construct 12 stopes in 6 years and extract 92 lakh tons of stone from there. But by extracting only 3 million tons of stone, GTC grabbed the entire contract value of 1 thousand 400 crore rupees by managing the influential people of the government. This agreement was approved by the Prime Minister’s Office. Due to this reason, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina cannot avoid the responsibility of this corruption, many officials of the ACC believe. Therefore, many people including Sheikh Hasina will be trapped in this case if new complaints are investigated.
Information of the investigation report: Those who are recommended to be accused in the investigation report are – Sirajul Islam Kazi of Dhanmondi area of the capital, then director (PSC) of Petrobangla Mohammad Abul Basar, retired director (planning) Md. Aminuzzaman, retired general manager. Mahmud Khan, Bapex managing director Mir Md. Abdul Hannan, retired general manager of Madhyapara Granite Mining Company. Asaduzzaman, Deputy General Manager Abdullah Al Mamun, Deputy General Manager Atiyar Rahman, Deputy General Manager Syed Rafiqul Islam, Deputy General Manager Md. Ubaidullah, Deputy General Manager. Abdul Majed, Managing Director ABM Kamruzzaman and Manager Sudipta Pal of Madhyapara Granite Company.
It is known that within a few months of receiving the responsibility of the new investigation, the accused ACC officer Syed Nazrul Islam ended this corruption complaint. Not only was this incident covered up by his hand. There are allegations of such interference against him. He issued a mass notice to the ACC to appear after receiving the responsibility of investigating any complaint. Then he started ‘Dharachhara’ trade. He continues these activities in connivance with ‘mercenary’ officials known as ACC controllers. Recently, this official concluded the corruption investigation of Senior Secretary Shah Kamal, who was discussed in the case of the recovery of 3 crore rupees and foreign currency from his house in Mohammadpur. He also went to his house to recover money. There are allegations that he has a close relationship with the corrupt syndicate of Awami League. Still ‘playing’ with many files of their corruption allegations. As the team leader of the investigation team of Padma Bank Chairman Chowdhury Nafiz Sarafat’s complaint, this officer became close to Nafis and at one time started controlling the ACC Chairman. Nazrul is also the investigating officer of the corruption of thousands of crores against the controversial and discussed former MD Taksim A Khan of Dhaka Wasa. On this occasion, he called 20-25 engineers and many officials of Wasa and threatened to implicate him in a case. It is also known that he submitted a report to the commission recommending that former MP Asim Kumar Ukil and his wife Apu Ukil, who are confidants of Awami League, end the allegations of illegal wealth acquisition. Again, BNP Acting Chairman Tarek Rahman’s close businessman Anis Ahmed filed a case against Gorky, which has no basis. Although there are specific allegations of corruption of hundreds of crores of rupees against MD M Kamal Hossain of Southeast Bank, after the investigation, the complaint is closed. Finally, he issued a notice to 38 people, requesting them to submit information by September 10, as an investigation officer into the cases of irregularities-corruption and embezzlement of government funds by the officials-employees working in various foreign embassies. On September 5, the Bangladesh Foreign Service Association made a statement that the incident was unacceptable. Many of the ACC officials themselves have said that Nazrul Islam’s activities are not compatible with the work of the ACC. This is damaging the image of the ACC.
When asked, Syed Nazrul Islam told Jugantar, ‘As a routine case, I am giving a report recommending the termination of the granite mine corruption complaint as no truth was found. The allegation of Tk 10 crore bribe transaction is not true. I have the Padma Bank corruption probe, but I have no closeness with Nafiz Sarafat. Regarding other allegations, he said, ‘It is not possible to comment on all the issues without seeing the file.’