By Mizan Rahman/Dhaka
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday sued an incumbent ruling Awami League lawmaker and two former state ministers on charges of amassing illegal wealth.
The accused are Awami League’s Cox’s Bazaar-4 lawmaker Abdur Rahman Bodi and former state minister for water resources Mahbubur Rahman and state minister for housing and public works Abdul Mannan Khan.
ACC deputy directors Khairul Huda, Nasir Uddin and Abdus Subhan filed separate cases with the Ramna Police Station in Dhaka, Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya, media and public relations officer of the anti-graft body, told reporters. The ACC decided to sue the trio after getting evidence against them during its investigation that began on January 22.
The wealth statements submitted before the ninth and tenth parliamentary elections said the wealth of Mahbubur and his wife increased to 76.1mn taka from 4.18mn taka in five years.
The amount of agricultural land owned by Mahbubur, who was elected unopposed in the January 5, 2014 polls from Patuakhali-4 constituency, also rose from only 20 acres to 2,865 acres, an astounding increase of 143 times.
Mannan Khan’s property value rose to over 52.5mn taka from 5,39,000 taka, according to his wealth statements submitted to the Election Commission before the 2008 and the immediate past January 5 elections. In the statements, he, however, did not mention the value of his ancestral property.
Mannan’s statements also indicate that his annual income has soared over the years. Five years back, his yearly income was over 1,85,000 taka, which increased to over 15.1mn taka last year.
The property value of Bodi rose to 28.8mn taka from 4.77mn taka in the last five years, according to his wealth statements submitted to the Election Commission (EC) before the 2008 and the January 5 elections.
Five years back his yearly income was only 2,00,000 taka, which increased to 150mn taka last year.
Earlier, former health minister AFM Ruhal Haque apologised to all Awami League leaders and activists and physicians for submitting his affidavit to the Election Commission with wrong wealth information before the 10th general election.
“I carelessly and unexpectedly mentioned my wife’s bank balance of 75.3mn taka instead of 4.51 million taka in the affidavit submitted to the EC before the last general election. Later, I submitted an amended affidavit to the district returning officer and the EC accepted the amended one,” he said.
“As a citizen of Bangladesh and a parliament member, I always respect law…I extended co-operation to the ACC inquiry process,” he said.
Earlier, on January 22, the ACC appointed seven inquiry officials to conduct probes into the allegations of amassing wealth illegally by seven politicians, including the former health minister.
On February 12, the national anti-graft body sent a notice to Haque asking him to appear in person at the ACC head office on the stipulated date to face interrogation.
As per the affidavit submitted to the election commission ahead of the 10th parliamentary polls, the wealth of Haque has increased by 100 million taka.
