In response to a request of the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Election Commission has directed the returning officers concerned to send the attested copies of affidavits of six powerful politicians by February 5.
The commission on Thursday sent letters to the returning officers on an emergency basis seeking at least two sets of affidavits of the politicians they submitted before the 9th and 10th parliamentary elections, said Deputy Secretary of the EC Mihir Sarwar Morshed.
Earlier, on January 23, the ACC sent letters to the EC seeking the affidavits of the politicians they submitted before the 2008 and the 2014 national elections for probing the allegations of unusual wealth accumulations by them.
The six politicians are former health minister AFM Ruhal Haque, former state minister for water resources Mahbubur Rahman and former state minister for housing and public works Abdul Mannan Khan, and ex-MPs Aslamul Haque, Abdur Rahman Bodi and Abdul Jabbar.
The anti-graft body has started investigation of their movable and immovable property in the first phase after media ran reports citing unusual increase in their assets according to the affidavits they submitted before the last two national elections.
As per the affidavits of candidates submitted to the EC for the last 10th parliamentary polls, the wealth of the 48 candidates have increased by 363 percent in the last five years while that of ministers by 247 percent; state ministers by 459 percent; and deputy leader of parliament, chief whip and whip by 1,689 percent; the Prime Minister by 46 percent and deputy speaker by 238 percent.
Earlier, this month, the ACC decided to launch probes into the allegations of unusual wealth accumulations by politicians in several phases.
Source: UNB Connect
