& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Railwaygate probe body visits spot

BGB jawans to be quizzed

Staff Correspondent
The railway probe body investigating the railwaygate scandal will interrogate tomorrow BGB members involved in detaining former railway minister Suranjit Sengupta's APS, his driver and two top officials of railway.
The two-member committee will ask them to submit written statement explaining the haul of Tk 70 lakh around midnight on April 9 and the subsequent detention of the three.
Meanwhile, Director General of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Maj Gen Anwar Hossain yesterday assured the committee members of his full cooperation, when the members met him at his office at Pilkhana BGB headquarters.
“I had a primary discussion with the committee members. I will do everything necessary to help with the investigation,” the DG told The Daily Star last night.
If required, the committee can interrogate any officer and jawan, he mentioned. “I have instructed everyone to cooperate with the committeemembers.”
It was the first visit by the committee to the headquarters of the border guards since itwas formed.
Ali Azam Khan, driver of OmarFaruqTalukder, sacked assistant personal secretary (APS) to former railway minister Suranjit Sengupta, pulled over Faruk's microbus to Pilkhana, blowing whistle on carrying illegal money in the vehicle.
Railway's general manager (east) Yusuf Ali Mridha and Dhaka division security commandant Enamul Huq were the other passengers of the microbus.
The BGB men later freed the four in the following morning.
Head of the probe com-
mittee Abu Taher, director general of Bangladesh Railway, and his aide Shashi Kumar Singha, joint secretary of railway ministry, went to Pilkhana around 11:00am. They first visited the spot where the driver had pulled over.
The railway DG said they are yet to determine how many officers and jawans were present that night. “We may first take written statements from each of them and then interrogate only some of them, if required,” he added. DRIVER FAILS TO APPEAR Azam, who remains traceless since the incident, failed to appear before the probe body yesterday in line with its order.
The committee sent a letter to Azam on April 22, asking him to come to the Rail Bhaban by 11:00am yesterday along with his written statement explaining his role in the cash haul.
This was the second letter sent to his permanent address in Chandpur as he did not appear before the committee on April 22.
ANOTHER COMMITTEE FORMED
The railway ministry yesterday formed another committee to detect irregularities in the recruitment of Bangladesh Railway.
The main role of the three-member committee will be to oversee the already formed four-member committee now probing the alleged corruption and irregularities, ministry sources said.
Additional Director
General (operation) of railway Mohammad Shahjahan will lead the new committee. TWo deputy secretaries of the ministry will assist him.
The four-member committee headed by railway's Joint Director General (me-chanical) visited Chittagong last week. They are examining the related records, recruitment examination sheets and formation of the examination committees.
“The committee will visit Chittagong again next week. Everything regarding the recruitment will be verified thoroughly,” a senior railway official told The Daily Star yesterday.
Some 1,128 persons were appointed in the railway's east zone in the last one year as part of recruiting a total of 7,275 persons across the country.
Yusuf in collaboration with Faruk allegedly realised huge cash from the appointees and other jobseekers. They took Tk 3 lakh to Tk 5 lakh from each of the job seekers. The Tk 70 lakh being carried in the APS's microbus was believed to have been collected from the job seekers.
The railwaygate scandal led to the resignation of railway minister Suranjit Sengupta. The government, though, later retained him in the cabinet as a minister without portfolio.
The APS has been sacked and the two railway officials have been suspended.