Suspended PWD engineer refused bail
The High Court yesterday refused to grant bail to an engineer, Md Shafiqul Islam, in three cases filed over corruption in purchasing furniture and household items for the officials of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Pabna.
The court, however, ordered the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) to complete investigation of the cases in six months. It also kept three rules over the bail for Shafiqul in the cases stand over (waiting for hearing) for six months.
The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Ahmed Sohel came up with the order during virtually hearing on the rules.
On August 17, the HC bench issued three separate rules asking the ACC and government why Shafiqul, a suspended assistant engineer of the Public Works Department, should not be granted bail in the cases.
ACC lawyer Advocate Khurshid Alarm Khan told The Daily Star that Shafiqul cannot get release from jail following the HC orders.
Advocate Sayeed Ahmed Raza appeared for Shafiqul while Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik represented the state.
The ACC filed the case with its Pabna district office against Shafiqul and several others on December 12 last year on charges of irregularities involving Tk 26 crore in supplying furniture and household items to the officials of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, said Advocate Khurshid Alarm Khan.
Shafiqul was also arrested on that day.
According to several reports, the prices of various items used to furnish the project's 966 flats for the Russian engineers and others were abnormally higher than market prices.
The reports claimed that each pillow was bought for Tk 5,957, and the cost of carrying it to a flat was Tk 760. An electric stove cost Tk 7,747 and the cost of carrying it from the ground floor to the top floor was Tk 6,650. The price of an electric iron was Tk 4,154 and the carrying cost was Tk 2,945, the reports showed.
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