In the wake of media reports and High Court ruling, the Anti-Corruption Commission has decided to investigate the allegations of corruption and irregularities in the fertiliser sector managed by Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC).

It will also investigate the irregularities of a Tk 115 crore project to restart Chittagong Chemical Complex, which was supposed to be completed in 14 months till December 2014, but has not finished in 48 months. In addition, the anti-corruption body will look into the recruitment anomalies of BCIC in 2014.

To do so, ACC appointed its Deputy Director SMM Akhter Hamid Bhuiyan as investigating officer on June 14 to probe the allegations of misappropriation of crores of takas and misuse of power by BCIC's outgoing chairman Mohammad Iqbal.

Meanwhile, BCIC officials have welcomed the ACC move, saying it would bring transparency in fertiliser management. "We hail ACC's move," said a senior official, seeking anonymity.

According to an ACC letter to Iqbal, who is an additional secretary, investigator Bhuiyan requested him to provide ACC all relevant documents during the investigation. The letter sought documents of inconsistent reports of fertiliser audit accounts on the quantity of fertiliser in transit, fertiliser smuggling by Nabab and Company, withdrawal of transportation bills through fake documents by Bulk Trade International, irregularities in the project to restart Chittagong Chemical Complex, irregularities in recruitment in BCIC in 2014, and the accounts of fertiliser in transit from 2007 to 2016 of different bidders who imported and transported the fertiliser to the state warehouses.

Following media reports on the corruption in fertiliser import and transportation by BCIC, the High Court on March 20 asked the government and ACC to explain in four weeks why they should not be directed to launch an investigation into massive corruption and irregularities in the fertiliser sector managed by BCIC.

The Daily Star ran a series of reports on corruption in the fertiliser sector in January this year. Some other newspapers also published similarstories.