MoPA secretary slams Aarong-buster officer

MoPA secretary slams Aarong-buster officer

  • Dhaka Tribune June 4th, 2019
Public Administration Secretary Foyez Ahmed-Collected

Public Administration Secretary Foyez Ahmed Collected

Monjur, DNCRP deputy director, however, said that he did everything as per the law

The public administration secretary has slammed Monjur Mohammad Shahriar, deputy director of Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection’s (DNCRP) Dhaka divisional office, saying that the official had used his “routine transfer procedure as an ill-motivated propaganda.”

“The file for his transfer was presented on May 29. The order was finalized before he carried out the raid (at Aarong store) that morning,” Public Administration Secretary Foyez Ahmed said on Tuesday.

Foyez was at the secretariat during the government holiday to recall the transfer order that sparked outrage and controversy across social media.

“We had reshuffled several employees at the same time. Deputy Director Monjur Mohammad Shahriar has been employed at the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) for two years now,” he said.

“Now that Ramadan is ending, he was transferred, though the raids would continue after Eid-ul-Fitr,” he added.

Also Read- Aarong-buster consumer rights directorate official transferred

The secretary said that Monjur’s transfer procedure started through e-filing on May 29, but he was unable to approve it that day.

“I tried to approve it on May 30, but could not due to network errors,” he added.

Claiming that the order was being recalled due to public sentiment, he said, “We revoked the order so the public does not get the wrong message.”

Calling the whole issue an ill-motivated propaganda, the public administration secretary said that the raid at Aarong on Monday had nothing to do with Monjur’s transfer.

Monjur, however, said that he did everything as per the law.

Also Read- Aarong-buster officer’s transfer withdrawn

His transfer order was issued less than 24 hours after he fined Aarong’s flagship store at Uttara Tk4.5 lakh and shut down the shop for 24 hours.

The outlet was fined for doubling the price of a product in the span of five days.

He had been transferred to the Khulna Zone office of Roads and Highways Department as estate and law officer.

The order came as a shock to consumers in general, and rights activists in particular, and sparked outrage across social media.

Recently, Monjur had led drives at two top makeover salons — Persona and Farzana Shakil’s — in the capital and fined them for using illegal, counterfeit and expired products.

He also led drives at various markets around the city to seize the 52 food products that the High Court had ordered recalled, after BSTI (Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution) found their quality to be substandard.