Our Correspondent, Dinajpur

The authorities of Western Railway Zone of Lalmonirhat division have filed a case against the ticket booking manager of Rangpur’s Kaunia Railway Station over embezzling around Tk 34 lakh from ticket sales.

The authorities also suspended its stationmaster for negligence in account maintenance.

Junior traffic inspector of the division Sagir Uddin filed the case with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in Rangpur on Monday, accusing Mishuk Al Mamun, chief ticket booking manager of Kaunia Railway Station.

According to the case documents, the money was embezzled from ticket sales of the last six months.

During this period, the station sold tickets worth around Tk 34 lakh. But instead of depositing the money to the national exchequer, Mishuk embezzled it, divisional manager Shah Sufi Nur Mohammad claimed.

The issue came to light after railway officials noticed the mismanagement on September 24.

They soon carried out an internal audit and found evidence against the allegations.

They later interrogated Mishuk on October 4, filed the case on the same day and handed him over to police, officials said.

Police produced him before a local court and sent him to Rangpur jail on the same day.

Meanwhile, the railway authorities have also suspended stationmaster Babu Al Rashid for his alleged negligence, divisional manager Nur Mohammad confirmed to journalists yesterday.

The official also said according to the rules, a stationmaster is responsible for taking ticket sales money from the booking manager and depositing the amount in the bank.

But it was found that the stationmaster of Kaunia did not do this for the last six months, the official told The Daily Star.

This correspondent tried to reach the stationmaster for comments, but he did not receive calls.