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DHAKA, Oct 15: Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been implicated in a graft case filed earlier against the former state minister for power in connection with a contract for the Meghnaghat Power Plant.
The Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAC) submitted the charge sheet to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s (CMM’s) court, Dhaka on Sunday.
According to the charge sheet, the First Survey and Design Institute (FSDI), a Chinese company, qualified in 1997 as the lowest bidder to install the 450 MW power plant costing Bangladesh Taka 123.76 crore. The secretary of the ministry of power referred the FSDI to the erstwhile state minister of the government of Sheikh Hasina.
But the state minister, Prof Rafiqul Islam, cancelled the bid to award the contract to China National Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering and Corporation (CWHEC) at the cost of BTk 141.65 crore and thus caused a loss of BTk 17.89 crore to the state. Besides, the local agent of the CWHEC was SACO, a company owned by an erstwhile ruling party MP Syed Abul Hossain.
The case was originally filed, last year, against the former state minister for power Prof Rafiqul Islam and owner of SACO Syed Abul Hossain. But the Investigation officer (IO) said that names of former prime minister and the two others were included in the charge sheet as investigation revealed their involvement in the scam. Eight prosecution witnesses were shown in the charge sheet.
MP STABBED: Hafizzudin Ahmed, a Jatiya Party MP, and nine others were stabbed by highway robbers in the early hours of October 14.
The MP, elected from a northern constituency of Jatiya Sangsad, was attacked while he was going to his constituency by night coach from Dhaka. As the bus was approaching Mohastangar, eight robbers also travelling as passengers took control of the transport. Armed with knives, the robbers asked passengers to hand over money and valuables to them.
As the MP tried to resist the robbers, they stabbed the lawmaker. Nine other passengers were similarly stabbed.
SEIZED: Police seized forged dollars, equivalent to US$280,000, from a house in the Mohammadpur area of the capital city on Monday.
One Nazrul, suspected to be involved in counterfeiting foreign currencies, escaped when a team of the law enforcers raided the house on Noorjahan Road under Mohammadpur thana.
