April 10, 2007	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 21, 1428

DHAKA, April 9: An executive of a private sector firm on Monday filed a complaint with the police against former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina, alleging that she had `extorted 30 million takas’ for allowing operation of a barge-mounted power plant eight years ago.

Kazi Tajul Islam Faruque, the chairman of Westmont Energy, filed the case with Dhaka’s Tejgaon police station just two days after the Awami League president fired a broadside at the interim administration of Fakhruddin Ahmed, terming it undemocratic and unconstitutional.

Sheikh Hasina, now in the United States on a private tour, had said in an interview with the BBC’s Bangla service on Saturday that the country could not be run under a state of emergency for long. President Iajuddin Ahmed proclaimed a state of emergency in January, suspending all fundamental rights.

In his complaint, Mr Faruque said he had been forced to pay the former premier 30 million takas in cash on Dec 12, 1998, for permission to continue his company’s operations.

The police refused to make any comment on the issue, saying they were probing the accusations.

“On July 12, 1998, the then prime minister’s personal staffer, Manu Majumder, made a phone call to me and asked to pay Tk 3 crore for the party (Awami League) fund, threatening me with the cancellation of my company’s licence,” Mr Faruque alleged in the FIR.

“To save my investment, I asked him (Mr Majumder) to make an appointment with the prime minister and on Aug 8, I met Sheikh Hasina at her residence. To my amazement, she, too, demanded the amount and threatened to cancel the approval of the plant.”

Mr Faruque said a stark choice now confronted him – either cough up the staggering sum or get ready for winding up the business. “I opted for the former, paying the money to the prime minister herself on Dec 12, 1998.”