Graft accused MP Bodi hits out at ACC

Awami League lawmaker Abdur Rahman Bodi yesterday said he would reveal "all secrets" of the Anti-Corruption Commission and its Chairman Mohammad Badiuzzaman if they tried to prove him corrupt.

"I am requesting at this meeting…. respected Mr Badiuzzaman, the ACC chairman, your name is Bodi while mine is Bodi too. If one Bodi wants to drive out another Bodi, every secret will be disclosed," the lawmaker said while addressing a discussion organised to mark the National Income Tax Day in Chittagong.

The MP from Teknaf and Ukhiya constituencies was sued by ACC in August allegedly for concealing information in his wealth statement and amassing wealth beyond his known sources of income. 

He yesterday said he would resign if anybody could prove his involvement in corruption.

Asked about the remarks, the ACC chief last night said, "We will look into his [Bodi's] speech and make a decision afterwards."

The lawmaker's speech will no way influence the ACC investigation into the charges against him, he added.

At the programme, the lawmaker said people of Teknaf and Ukhiya wanted to know what was going on inside the anti-graft body, and how its chief was “making black things white and white things black”.

Refuting the corruption allegations brought against him, Bodi said he had never resorted to corruption and would never do in future.

Bodi and his younger brother Abdus Sukkur were presented with awards at the programme for being the highest taxpayers from Cox's Bazar.

ACC on August 21 filed cases against Bodi and two former state ministers with Ramna Police Station in Dhaka under the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004. The cases are now being investigated.

On Wednesday, ACC Deputy Director Jatan Kumar Roy lodged a general diary after allegedly receiving a death threat from a tax lawyer of another ruling party lawmaker, Enamul Haque from Rajshahi. Jatan has been investigating alleged discrepancies in the MP's wealth statement.