Former Vice-Chancellor of Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur (BRUR), Professor Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah, has been arrested in a corruption case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and sent to jail following a court order.
A team from the Detective Branch (DB) of police arrested him from the Mohammadpur area in Dhaka on Thursday.
Later in the day, he was produced before the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Zakir Hossain Galib’s court, which denied him bail and ordered to send him to jail.
During the hearing, ACC sought to keep him detained in jail, while defence lawyers argued for his bail. The state counsel opposed the bail petition, and after hearing both sides, the court rejected the plea and issued the order to send him to jail.
According to the ACC, the case involves alleged irregularities and corruption in a special development project at the university. The case was filed on June 18 against Kalimullah and four others, including another former BRUR vice-chancellor, AKM Nur-un-Nabi.
The other accused are the university’s former executive engineer and member secretary of the tender evaluation committee Md Jahangir Alam, contractor Md A Salam Bacchu, and MM Habibur Rahman.
The ACC said that the accused, in collusion, abused their authority and committed criminal breach of trust by altering the university’s approved Development Project Proposal (DPP) design without approval. They are also accused of awarding contracts worth over Tk 30 crore without the consent of the relevant ministry or division.
In addition, the case statement said the accused kept deducted security deposits from the contractor’s bills in fixed deposit receipts (FDRs) and gave those on lien to allow the contractor to secure bank loans—allegedly causing the misappropriation of around Tk 4 crore from the university’s funds.
Despite no provision for advance payment in the contract, an advance bill was issued against a bank guarantee, citing financial assistance. The guarantee was released before the bill was cleared, which the ACC terms a violation of rules.
The complaint added that the original design provided by the first consulting firm was disregarded, and a second firm was appointed in breach of public procurement rules. Furthermore, tenders that included abnormally high price proposals (front loading) were not properly evaluated as required under the Public Procurement Rules (PPR) 2008.
In connection with this case, the Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge’s Court on Thursday also issued a travel ban against all five accused. The order came in response to a petition submitted by ACC Assistant Director Minhaj Bin Islam. The ACC’s public relations officer Akhtarul Islam confirmed the matter.
