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Tac gets a politician for confession finally

ACC finds Tk 45cr gobbled up in maintenance ofCtg offices of BTCL

Emran Hossain
Former BNP state minister Maj (retd) Kamrul Islam yesterday applied for making voluntary disclosure before the Truth and Accountability Commission (Tac) about his ill-gotten wealth, first by any politician since Tac began funcooningon August 3.
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Director General (Admin) Col Hanif Iqbal during a press briefing yesterday said a politician had applied to ACC to face Tac. He however denied disclosing details about it.
But ACC sources have confirmed that former BNP state minister Maj (retd) Kamrul Islam is the
first politician seeking clemency.
Maj (retd) Kamrul, an accused on the list of 35 graft-suspects published on October 4 last year, is under investigation by ACC.
He claimed to have wealth worth aboutTk 7 crore in his wealth statement submitted to the commission after it served a notice on 15
Dhaka Friday September 19,2008 JL.
him in November last year. Though investigation is going on against him since last year, ACC has not filed any case against him yet.
Despite repeated alterants. Kamrul could not be reached last night.
Meanwhile, eight more govern -ment servicemen including employees from Desa. Titas Gas and Sylhet City Corporation have disclosed before Tac of having ill-gotten wealth worth Tk 45 lakh only
Besides, an ACC investigation reveals employees of Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd (BTCL). former Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB), misappropnated over Tk 45 crore only in maintenance and preservation of its offices in Chittagong between 2000-2001 and 2007-2008.
The anti-graft watchdog yesterday also approved submission of two proposed charge sheets against fur people including former LGRD state minister Ziaul Huq Zia on different charges. The ACC also approved filing of three separate cases against three people including former BNP lawmaker AKM Fazlul Haq Milon.
With yesterday's hearing. The heard 89 graft-accused and ordered them to return about Tk 16.12 crore to the state.
Of the 89, nearly half were from Titas Gas, one of the most corrupt state-owned companies according to NCC investigation, who dis closed before Tac of having about Tk 40 lakh only.
BTCIGRAFT
The ACC taskforce, while probing corruption at BTTB in its Chittagong offices as pan of a drive against institutional corruption, found that BTTB staffs ranging from the post divisional engineer to lineman misappropriated the money in connivance with each other.
The investigators also found BTTB staffs shared the money, drawn in advance for schedule maintenance and preservation by assistant engineers, illegally among themselves by a means invented by themselves at a fixed rate.
The ACC investigation also found information that several BTCL officers and employees of Chittagong offices have amassed huge wealth beyond their known sources of income.
Of the total money misappropriated. Tk 3.3 crore was shown as additional expenditure for maintenance and preservation, while Tk 41.9 crore through schedule work of maintenance and preservation.
The investigation found that though expenditure in schedule work of maintenance and preservation, work like maintenance and .preservation of exchange, switch room arid rectifier room, was shown about Tk 5.99 crore, the actual amount spent was Tk 17.96 crore.
Investigations reveal 25 percent to 40 percent of the drawn amount was spent on maintenance and entertainment purposes of the offices of the divisional engineers and top-level officers, while 10-15 percent was taken by the assistant engineers, who drew the money.
Besides, concerned deputy assistant engineers, TCT's, TCM’s, wireman and linemen were each given Tk 4,000, Tk 1,600, Tk 1,400, Tk 1,300 andTk 1,200 per month.
Moreover, the investigations find out that only 20 percent to 35 percent of the budgeted money was spent in maintenance and preservation, while the rest was
shared among the deputy assistant engineers, assistant engineers and divisional engineers.
Though entrance is restricted to the internal department in BTCL and labourers are not deployed to carry our work in the department, the BTCL staffs showed deploy ment of thousands of labourers in this regard and drew crores of taka, the investigation reveals.
Thousands of labourers were also showed deployed in work under external department, establishing telephone connection and cable renovation by digging roads when in reality labourers were not deployed, the investigation adds.
The investigation also reveals BTCL did not use its in-store cables and jointer in doing the job of maintenance and preservation.
The investigation says though the budget for maintenance and preservation of Chittagong offices between 2000-2001 and 2007-2008 was Tk 100.92 crore, the expenditure during the period was Tk 104.15 crore.
Another ACC investigation on July 21 revealed employees of BTCL Dhaka office misappropriated over Tk 45 crore in three sectors involving transportation between 2000-2001 and 2007-2008.
CHARGE SHEET AND CASES
Ziaul Huq Zia and three others including former UNO of Ramganj in Laxmipur will be accused of misappropriation of 320 tonnes of government rice worth Tk 50.29 lakh in the proposed charge sheet.
The other charge sheet will be submitted against Comilla municipality chairman Monirul Haque Saku.
Milon will be accused in the case for concealing information about wealth worth about Tk 2.48 lakh and amassing wealth worth about Tk 86.15 lakh beyond known sources of income.
The other two cases will be filed against former lawmaker Abul Khair Bhuiyan and former lawmaker Redwan Ahmed's son Sultan Moeen Ahmed.
The ACC also approved issuing of notices against Abul Khair Bhuiyan's wife Rowshan Ara Begum and Afroza Jesmin, wife of Monirul Haque Saku, asking them to submit wealth statement to the commission.