Railwaygate Scandal: ACC finds proof of irregularities against Mridha

The Anti-Corruption Commission has “found proof” that suspended general manager (east zone) of Bangladesh Railway Yusuf Ali Mridha had the scores of his preferred candidate's recruitment test increased.

The charges against Mridha in connection with irregularities in the recruitment were dropped earlier due to lack of evidence.

“We've got proof of smudged answer sheets of recruitment tests. The mark of his [Mridha] preferred candidate was increased,” said an Anti- Corruption Commission's investigation officer wishing to be unnamed.

Mridha, who was caught with Tk 70 lakh inside the Pilkhana Headquarters of the Border Guard Bangladesh in April 2012, did not form any committee to supervise the recruitment process. His chosen people under him conducted the written test of job seekers.

“Mridha didn't follow the directives of the headquarters [railway's]. He held the recruitment test on his own,” said the ACC official.

“We've found proof of recruitment of one person who couldn't pass the exam. But his test score was increased and he was appointed,” the official said without disclosing the recruited employee's identity.

In August last year, the Supreme Court upheld a High Court verdict that directed a Chittagong court to accept the corruption allegations against Mridha in a case filed for irregularities in recruitment process and to start his trial.

After that, the ACC appointed an investigation officer who submitted the supplementary charge sheet before the ACC. The ACC would submit it before the court soon.

The commission had filed the case with Kotwali Police Station in Chittagong on September 13, 2012, against several people, including Mridha and teachers of Khagrachhari Women College -- Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan, Zahirul Islam and Tapan Kumar Das -- in connection with indulging in irregularities in the recruitment process at BR.

Mridha was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for earning wealth illegally and concealing this information on his statements. He was suspended on April 15, 2012, a week after he was caught at the BGB gate. The money had allegedly been collected from railway job seekers.

The then railway minister Suranjit Sengupta had to resign over the cash haul, following allegations that the money was being taken to his Jigatola home. Suranjit refuted the claim.

The cash haul, which came to be known as railwaygate scandal, later exposed widespread irregularities in the recruitment process at different levels of Bangladesh Railway.