The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed a case against 17 people, including ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and six of her cabinet colleagues, for irregularities in toll collection from Meghna-Gomti Bridge.
Deputy Director of the Public Relations Department of the ACC Md Akhtarul Islam said that the anti-graft body on Sunday approved a proposal for filing the case against 17 people, including Sheikh Hasina.
The ACC brought allegations of irregularities in signing an agreement for collecting tolls of the bridge and misuse of power that resulted in losses of over Tk300 crore to the government.
The other accused of the case are former ministers Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Obaidul Quader, Anisul Huq and MA Mannan, former secretary MAN Siddique, former additional secretary Md Faruk Jalil, former deputy secretary Mohammed Shafiqul Karim, former engineers of Roads and Highways Division and Bridges Division Md Firoz Iqbal, Ibne Alam Hasan, Md Aftab Hossain Khan, Md Abdus Salam and managing director of CNS Limited, Munir-Uz-Zaman Chowdhury, its directors Selina Chowdhury and Ikram Iqbal.
According to the ACC investigation, the responsibility for collecting the tolls of the bridge was given to Computer Network Systems (CNS) Limited in 2016 through a single quotation. The concerned ministry cancelled the legal tender of the previous party and signed a new agreement without consulting other firms.
The ministry, through the new agreement, allowed CNS Limited to get a 17.75% services charge, excluding VAT and income tax from the total collected tolls. As a result, CNS Limited received bills of Tk489 crore from the bridge, whereas Tk15 crore was paid to a joint venture company for collecting tolls from 2010 to 2015.
The government suffered a loss of Tk309 crore from 2016 to 2022 due to the single-source agreement of the tender with CNS Limited, the ACC revealed.
The accused persons, in connivance with each other, for the gain of their own or for others, were involved in corruption by misusing their powers through fraudulent and dishonest activities.
The ACC filed the case under section 409/420/109 of the Bangladesh Penal Code and section 5(2) of the Corruption Prevention Act of 1947.
