ACC starts quizzing jail officials

A three-member team of Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday quizzed 13 staff members of Chattogram Central Jail (CCJ) and recorded statements over corruption and other irregularities inside the jail, which came to light after arrest of a former jailer last year.

ACC sources said the team is headed by its director Mansur Yousuf. They will question some 36 staff members and employees of CCJ till Thursday.

ACC Integrated District Office, Chattogram-2’s deputy director Mahbub Alam, also a member of the team, told The Daily Star, “We are questioning the staff to probe corruption and other irregularities including drug supply inside jail. This surfaced after the arrest of jailer Sohel Rana Biswas last year.”

“We will quiz around 36 persons who were in CCJ during that time. In the first phase we spoke with 13 people including two deputy jailers,” said Mahbub.

On July 28 in Dhaka, the anti-graft watchdog will also quiz the prison’s then deputy inspector general (DIG) Prasanta Gopal Banik, senior jail super Partha Gopal Banik, and other senior officials, he added.

The 36 people were transferred after arrest of Sohel Rana Biswas on October 26 last year, and have been summoned to CCJ for questioning.

Sohel was arrested with Tk 44 lakh in cash, and fixed deposit receipts (FDRs) worth Tk 2.5 crore.

After the incident, a three-member probe committee was formed by prison authority where they found the involvement of several prison officials in the incident. As per the recommendation of the committee, several prison guards and senior officials were transferred.