The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) has decided to release all accused in much-talked-about Padma Multipurpose Bridge graft case as the watchdog found no evidence against the accused after investigation into the appointment of a supervising consultant in the project.
The ACC Chairman M Badiuzzaman made the announcement while addressing a press conference on probe report of Padma Multipurpose Bridge graft case at ACC headquarter in Shegunbagicha in Dhaka on Wednesday.
According to the ACC decision, former communications minister Syed Abul Hossain and former state minister for foreign affairs Abul Hasan Chowdhury including others accused have been released from the case.
ACC Commissioner (investigation) Sahabuddin Chuppu said: ''We found no strong evidence against the accused to place them before the court and decided not to run the case anymore."
Asked whether they have to face any problem in submitting the report as the case is still ongoing at the Canadian court, Chuppu said they had no connection to the investigation being conducted by Canada.
On December 17, 2012, the ACC filed the case of “conspiracy for corruption in the Padma Bridge project” against seven people including former bridges division secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan.
The ACC kept the names of former communications minister Syed Abul Hossain and former state minister Abul Hasan Chowdhury as suspects. It said the duo would be kept under observation.
On September 18, Royal Canadian Mounted Police charged five people in connection with the scam. They are the former state minister Abul Hasan, SNC-Lavalin’s former director Mohammad Ismail, former vice-presidents Kevin Wallace and Ramesh Shah, and Zulfiquar, a Canadian citizen who has business ties in Bangladesh.
