A Dhaka court has sent Education Ministry employees Motaleb Hossain and Nasir Uddin and Lakehead Grammar School owner Khaled Hasan Motin to jail in a case filed over several corruption allegations.
Judge Ziarul Islam of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court sent them to jail on Tuesday after rejecting their bail pleas.
Earlier on Sunday night, the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) arrested Nasir, Khaled and Motaleb, who had been “missing,” from different areas in Dhaka.
DB Sub-Inspector Monirul Islam Mrida lodged the case for reportedly exchanging bribes by the trio in an attempt to reopen Lakehead Grammar School, which had been shut down by the government for its alleged involvement with terrorism and militancy.
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Missing or hiding?
Right after the bribery allegation was revealed in media reports, Motaleb, a personal officer of Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid, went missing from Dhaka on Saturday.
His brother filed a general diary with Hazaribagh police station in this regard.
The school’s owner, Khaled, also went missing on the same day, while Nasir, an upper division clerk at the Ministry of Education, remained traceless for a few days until he was arrested.
On November 6, 2017, the government suspended the academic operation of the school’s Dhanmondi branch and two other branches in Gulshan on charges of patronizing religious extremism and militancy.
According to the Ministry of Education, the school was running without approval from the ministry.
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ACC launches probe
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Chairman Iqbal Mahmud yesterday said the commission had launched an investigation against the trio.
“An investigation is already in progress against the two Education Ministry officials and Lakehead Grammar School owner Khaled Hasan over their reported involvement in bribery and corruption. The ACC will also investigate if there’s any corruption in other ministries,” he said.
Iqbal made the remarks after a function in the ACC head office in response to queries from journalists.
The event was arranged marking the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the ACC and the CLP-USA (a group of Bangladeshi nationals in the United States), Gunijan Trust and Kite Bangladesh.
ACC Commissioner AFM Aminul Islam, Kite Bangladesh Chairman Anonno Rayhan and CLP-USA President Dr Mohammad Faruk were present there.