Party men demand punishment of ex-BNP MP in Jhenidah
Moshiur on the run since emergency, faces extortion charge, complaints lodged with ACC
Moshiur Rahman
Party men now demand punishment of former BNP lawmaker from Jhenidah-2 constituency Md. Moshiur Rahman, accusing him of tarnishing the image of the party. They are raising voices for action against Moshiur after he was sued Sunday for (September 16) for extortion. The correspondents talked to several front ranking leaders of Jhenidah district and upazila BNP committees, who demanded punishment of the former lawmaker for his alleged involvement in extortion, corruption and irregularities during five years of BNP-Jamaat government. “Mashiur formed a 11-member syndicate for tender manipulation and other illegal activities and earned huge amounts of money through extortion”, said Alaol Haq Alo, president of Sadar upazila BNP. “The party should give him exemplary punishment because he tarnished the image of the popular organization”, he said. Echoing the same sentiment, Sadar upazila Asif Iqbal Makhon said, Moshiur is responsible for disorganising and defaming the the party in the district. Party men will not own the irregularities done by his is cronies, he said. President of district Jatiyotabadi Chattra Dal (JCD) Ashraful Islam Pintu said, “By using his power during alliance rule, he and his men committed crimes including extortion. JCD will not defend and stand by them”. Moshiur and his eight associates were sued in a Tk 50.85 lakh extortion case filed by a contractor Subodh Kumar Kundu with Jhenidah Sadar police station on Sunday. He alleged that they realised the money from him on different occasions between 2004 and 2006. He was forced to pay the money through cheques of Uttara, Pubali and Rupali banks as Moshiur's men threatened him of dire consequences in case of failure. Moshiur Rahman, BNP's central organising secretary and former whip is on the run since promulgation of emergency. Joint forces failed to arrest him despite several raids, police said. Allegations have it that Moshiur's syndicate manipulated tenders of development works in government departments including LGED (local government and engineering department). They occupied water bodies and established supremacy in local markets in the name of lease. Sources in BNP and different government offices alleged that Moshiur distributed works for development project among some chosen contractors in exchange of 10 per cent of estimated project and amassed huge wealth. “In last five years, we had no scope to buy and drop schedules without permission of the syndicate led by Moshiur Rahman, several contractors in Jhenidah town complained while talking tot this correspondent. Several complaints have also been lodged with Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) against Moshiur and his men for his alleged involvement in extortion and other crimes. “We received several allegations regarding former lawmaker Moshiur's alleged involvement in extortion and other offenses and those have been sent to higher authorities for directive”, ACC Deputy Director in Jhenidah Abdul Gaffar said. It was also alleged that by using the position of member of parliamentary committee on ministry of health and family planning, Moshiur realised money in appointment of people in 36 posts in district health sector last year. The appointments were made in nine posts of health assistant, one store keeper, two junior mechanics, two MLSSs, five gardeners, five night guards, five cooks, six sweepers and one 'dome'(person who takes care of dead bodies before and after autopsy). “At least Tk one crore was realised for appointments in the 36 posts for which 15,556 candidates applied and Moshiur Rahman took the major portion of the money”, former lawmaker from Jhenidah-4 constituency Shahiduzzaman Beltu alleged. Moshiur paid Tk 1.7crore income tax in 2006-07 financial year, which was only Tk 5,000 in the previous year (FY 2005-06), it was gathered. It is now a talk of the town why his income tax rose to such a phenomenal height only in one year. Moshiur is also on the list of corruption suspects sent to commercial banks by Bangladesh Bank's (BB), asking for details of their accounts and transactions, official sources said. The list reached Jhenidah last month, the sources said.
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