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Govt starts probe into award scam

Staff Correspondent
The Ministry of Liberation War Affairs yesterday formed a three-member committee to find out the people involved in the making and purchase of subpar shields awarded to foreign friends and organisations for their outstanding contribution to the country's Liberation War.
Dhaka Divisional Commissioner Ziller Rahman was made the head of the committee and asked to submit a report within 15 working days, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque told The Daily Star last night.
"After getting the investigation report, we will take actions against the people involved," he added.
The shields, given to foreign friends and organisations for their outstanding contribution to the country's Liberation War, was supposed to have 11.664 grams of gold and 350 grams of silver, according to a report run by a Bangla daily on Sunday.
However, following the tests Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institute (BSTI) carried out in 2012, it was found that the shields only had 2.363 grams of gold and an alloy was used instead of silver.
A BSTI deputy director had told the Bangla daily that the government took no action against the shield supplying company Amecon despite having the report about the shields being of lesser material worth.
A month after the delivery of the shields, Amecon received full payment for them, not according to the value of the alleged substandard products they supplied.
Minister Mozammel told The Daily Star Sunday night, “I have already asked the officials of my ministry to get all related documents ready. I will go through them. Actions will be taken against the people responsible immediately if the documents prove them guilty.*
He had said a probe body would be formed if the paper trail failed to identify the guilty people. "Deception with foreign friends is a huge matter," he added.
A total of338 foreign friends and organisations were given the awards in seven phases during the tenure of previous Awami League-led government.
Out of the 338 shields, Amecon supplied 278 and who supplied the remaining 60 could not be known. The shields were purchased without any tender.
Interestingly, Ershad Ali, claiming to be the manager of Amecon, told The Daily Star over the phone that they had prepared the shields in accordance with the Liberation War ministry's order. "We used 15 grams of gold in the shields," he said.
Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan on Sunday said, “Although the functions were jointly organised by the Cabinet Division, the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Cabinet Division only looked after the citations of the awardees, their distribution, the guest lists, and planning the seating arrangements."
Interestingly, the then state minister for Liberation War Affairs Ministry Captain (retd) AB Tajul Islam dismissed the allegation saying that what the Bangla paper reported was not true.
"I myself looked after the shield made for honouring Indira Gandhi," he said.