I’m innocent, Abul Hasan claims
Claiming to be innocent, former communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain on Monday said even if corruption occurred in Padma bridge project, he was not involved in it.
“No one in the earth can prove that I was involved in corruption,” he told reporters at the Anti-Corruption Commission’s Segunbagicha office after facing interrogation by an enquiry team of the anti-graft body.
Earlier, former state minister for foreign affairs Abul Hasan Chowdhury denied his involvement in the alleged corruption in the Padma bridge project.
“I’m innocent and I was not involved in any corruption in the Padma bridge project,” Abul Hasan told reporters.
A four-member enquiry team led by ACC Deputy Director Mir Mohammad Zainul Abedin Shebly quizzed Abul Hasan for nearly two hours over his alleged involvement in the project.
Earlier, Abul Hasan reached the ACC headquarters at Segunbagicha in the capital at 10:15am, ACC sources said.
The WB cancelled its $1.2 billion funding for the bridge on June 29, saying it had proof of a “corruption conspiracy” involving Bangladeshi officials, executives of a Canadian firm and some individuals.
The global lender on September 21 decided to revive the loan after the Bangladesh government agreed to the WB’s terms and conditions.
And as part of the conditions, the global lenders’ expert team is now in Dhaka for second time and held talks with the ACC.
The panel which is chaired by Luis Moreno Ocampo, former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, made its first visit in October.
The other members of the panel are Timothy Tong, former commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Peoples Republic of China; and Richard Alderman, former director of the UK Serious Fraud Office.
Source: The Daily Star
