Victim points at minister’s relative; denial follows; Rajuk to decide on re-tender today
The Rajuk authorities will decide today on whether to re-tender the Tk25-crore Uttara bridge project, as a gang of thugs snatched the bidding documents from one of the prospective bidders on Monday.
Backed allegedly by Abdus Salam Khan, proprietor of a bidder firm Padma Traders, the thugs snatched the bidding documents of Abdul Monem Ltd. Salam is a relative of Abdul Mannan Khan, state minister for public works.
The bridge will be built in Uttara 3rd phase, a residential area under development by Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk). The deadline for bidding passed on Monday.
Md Nurul Huda, chairman of Rajuk, said he would consider the overall situation before deciding on the issue today.
There is no legal bar to go ahead with the tender process if at least two bids are received, he mentioned.
The Rajuk chief claimed that the incident occurred outside of Rajuk premises and neither the victim nor any of his (victim’s) officials had informed him about the incident until 2:30pm on Monday, when he left the office. Later he learnt of the incident from newsmen.
Adequate police and Rab personnel were deployed at Rajuk office to ensure no untoward incident occurs, added Huda.
Talking to The Daily Star, MA Kalam, executive director of Abdul Monem Ltd, said the bidding documents were snatched from the fourth floor of Rajuk Bhaban, where its chairman sits.
No sooner had Kalam along with his staff approached through the main entrance of Rajuk to a lift, two youths followed them and insisted on them getting down on the fourth floor, although they wanted to get off on the third.
Around four more youths joined the thugs there and one of them snatched the documents and disappeared, he mentioned.
“I immediately informed the project director of the incident, but could not see the chairman as he was in a meeting,” said Kalam. “Around 4:30pm, we emailed a complaint to both the chairman and project director demanding re-tendering.”
He plans to make the complaint in person this morning.
He reckon that some low-profile bidders might have sponsored the snatching, sensing a high prospect of Abdul Monem Ltd for winning the bid.
Contacted, Padma Traders owner Abdus Salam Khan claimed that he had no link with the snatching incident and was a victim of a conspiracy.
Without naming anybody, he said some quarters had offered him to get them the project award in exchange of five percent of the project cost, but he refused them.
The youths who committed the offence roam around the Rajuk premises all the while using the name of the ruling Awami League and they can easily be identified from CCTV (closed-circuit television) footage, said Salam.
He added that State Minister Abdul Mannan Khan is his uncle.
The state minister said there was no incident of obstructing submission of tender documents. “It’s a move to tarnish my image. My relation won’t get the work, even if he becomes the lowest bidder.”
Mahmudul Haq, director of another construction firm Monico Ltd, said they also could not drop their bid as some people at Rajuk office in Motijheel obstructed his men.
“We may not take part in any probable re-tendering, as we are not interested in any troublesome work,” he mentioned.
Source: The Daily Star
