ACC finds involvement of 23 in Barapukuria coal scam
Published: July 21, 2019 Financial Express
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has found involvement of 23 people in the alleged embezzlement of about 144,000 tonnes of coal worth over Tk 2.43 billion from Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Limited (BCMCL) in Dinajpur.
ACC Deputy Director Shamsul Alam, also the investigation officer of a case filed over the embezzlement, submitted the charge-sheet at their Dinajpur office on Sunday, the commission’s spokesman Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya said, reports bdnews24.com.
The investigation found evidence that the 23 people, seven former managing directors of BCMCL, were involved in the alleged embezzlement.
The seven former MDs of Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Limited named in the charge-sheet are Md Mahbubur Rahman, Mad Abdul Aziz Khan, Khurshidul Hasan, Qamruzzaman, Md Aminuzzaman, SM Nurul Awrangazeb, and Habib Uddin Ahmed.
Those named in the charge-sheet are former general managers Md Shariful Alam, Md Abul Qasem Prodhania, Abu Taher Md Nur-uz-Zaman Chowdhury, deputy general manager Md Zobayer Ali, managers Masudur Rahman Howlader, Md Arifur Rahman, Syed Iman Hasan, Md Shoyebur Rahman, Ashok Kumar Halder deputy managers Muhammad Kholilur Rahman, Md Morsheduzzaman, Md Habibur Rahman, Md Jahedur Rahman, AKM Khaledul Islam, and assistant managers Satyendranath Barman, and Md Moniuruzzaman.
The ACC initiated the case and put a travel ban on the accused and two other people as part of investigating after the disappearance of the coal forced a halt to operations at the nearby coal-fired Barapukuria Thermal Power Plant in July last year.
Initially, there were 19 accused in the case.
After conducting investigation, the ACC submitted charge-sheet against 14 people while five others were found innocent, according to Pranab.
The ACC also included nine more people in the charge-sheet after finding their involvement in the embezzlement.
The alleged embezzlement of the coal took place between January, 2006 and July, 2018, according to the investigation.
The accused officials allegedly sold the coal at Tk 2.3 billion in open market through abuse of power, fraud, irregularities and other types of corruption, according to the charges.
The shutdown led to power cuts and shortage of voltage in swathes of the northern region.
