A Union Parishad (UP) member has allegedly embezzled six tonnes of rice which were allotted for an orphanage, a madrasa and a mosque at Sadar Union Parishad in Magura’s Mohammadpur upazila.
Ward No 1 member Sirajul Islam, also an Awami League leader, secured the allotment by showing Raipur Orphanage, Raipur Madrasa and Raipur Mosque on paper as the beneficiaries, but in reality, neither the orphanage nor the mosque exist.
According to the Mohammadpur Upazila Project Implementation Office, two tonnes of rice had been allotted for each of the three projects at Sadar Union’s Raipur village. Each project was presided over by Siraj.
Our correspondent visited Raipur village and found that neither the orphanage nor the mosque exist in the village.
Villagers Ali Akbar, Shahabul and Md Fariduzzaman said these had never existed.
However, three other mosques were found in the village
Imams Monnu Mian, Mushtafijur Rahman and Murad Hossen said they had not received any rice allotted for their respective mosques this year.
Seeking anonymity, another UP member said: “The local market value of the rice which Siraj embezzled stands at Tk2 lakh.”
“Siraj had also misappropriated rice and wheat under different projects, most of which do not really exist. His unbridled corruption will come to light once the other projects, presided over by him, are investigated thoroughly,” he added.
UP member Sirajul Islam, however, refused to make any comments on this issue and requested this correspondent to not publish this report in the newspaper.
When Mohammadpur Upazila Nirbahi Officer Kamrul Hasan was asked about this, he said: “We shall take the necessary action after investigating this.”