The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed a case against 18 former and current officials of the Western Zone of Bangladesh Railway over alleged embezzlement of nearly Tk2.5 crore.
On Wednesday, Md Rokonuzzaman, deputy assistant director of the ACC headquarters, filed the case at the ACC’s Rajshahi Integrated District Office.
He said the case is currently under investigation and may take up to 180 days to complete.
Rokonuzzaman added that an investigating officer has not yet been appointed. The officer assigned by the commission will conduct the investigation.
The accused include former Western Zone Railway general manager Khandakar Shahidul Islam, former COS (West) Md Khairul Alam, former COS (West) Md Belal Hossain Sarkar, former general manager (West) Md Mojibur Rahman, former SCOS Md Zahid Kawsar, former Deputy CCM Fuad Hossain Anand, former DFA Shyamoli Rani Roy, current COS (East) Md Alamin Talukdar, former DFA (Finance, West) Md Alamgir Hossain, former COPs (West) AMM Shahnewaz, former FA&CAO (West) Md Shariful Islam, former deputy COPs (West) Hasina Khatun, former FA&CAO (West), Md Masihul Hasan, former ASCM (West) Sheikh Abdul Jabbar, former additional FA&CAO (West) Md Golam Rabbani, former additional FA&CAO Golam Rahman, former FA&CO (West) Saroj Kanti Deb, and former CCM (West) Mihir Kanti Guha.
According to ACC sources, during the 2018-19 fiscal year, the COS office of Western Zone Railway purchased 17 types of items including locks, buckets, flutes, flags, VIP curtains, luggage tapes, wagon cards, chairs, and trollies, amid widespread irregularities.
The Ministry of Railways investigation committee found that these items were procured at abnormally high prices without market verification, resulting in the misappropriation of over Tk2.18 crore—prices were 15 to 33 times higher than actual market rates.
The ACC stated that each lock was purchased from contractors at Tk5,590, while the actual market price was only Tk173, leading to irregularities of Tk10,83,400 in lock purchases alone.
Similarly, VIP curtains accounted for Tk44,41,300 and other items for Tk1,28,53,446 in alleged embezzlement.
ACC officials said that members of the procurement and tender evaluation committee deliberately recommended purchases at rates 33 times higher than actual costs to gain illegal benefits. Preliminary investigations indicate that the accused colluded to misappropriate the funds.