Govt to recover money spent on 7 killers

The foreign ministry has moved to recover Tk 21 crore from the people, who spent it on the salaries and allowances of seven convicted killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman after August 15, 1975.
"Directives were already given [to the authorities concerned] to take necessary administrative measures to this effect," Foreign Minister Dipu Moni told the House recently in a written statement.
She said the seven killers received nearly Tk 3 crore each in salaries and allowances after getting appointed to Bangladesh missions abroad.
The foreign minister issued the statement in response to a call attention notice on urgent public important matter by Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) lawmaker Shah Zikrul Ahmed.
The JSD lawmaker drew the minister's attention by the notice in the last session of parliament. He wanted to know whether the government would take measures to recover the money from the people responsible for the "illegal expenditure."
According to the rules of procedure of the Jatiya Sangsad, the foreign minister's reply to the notice was placed in the House in the form of a report with other ministers' responses to a number of notices.
"I want to assure the honourable lawmaker of taking legal measures to recover the money, which was spent illegally for the benefits of the killers and to deposit the money to the public exchequer," Dipu Moni said.
The Daily Star obtained a copy of the report containing responses from the ministers to the lawmakers' call attention notices.
All successive governments after August 15, 1975 continued misusing state money for giving salaries and allowances to the killers, the statement said.
A few crore were spent for their salaries, house rent, transport of goods, educational expenses of their children, medical treatment of their family members, and daily and travel allowances.
It would take time to calculate the actual expenditure. However, the state had to spend at least Tk 1.5 crore for each of them for giving them salaries, allowances and airfares, the statement said.
The money spent for each of the killers might be around Tk 3 crore if all other expenditures including house rent are calculated, the foreign minister said.
The statement said the military regime in 1976 gave the killers jobs in foreign missions of Bangladesh.
Of them, Sultan Shahrier Rashid Khan and Bazlul Huda were appointed second secretaries to Bangladesh missions in Jakarta and Islamabad.
Shariful Haq Dalim was made first secretary to Bangladesh mission in Beijing, AM Rashed Chowdhury consulate general to the mission in Jeddah, AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed second secretary to the mission in Algiers, SHMB Noor Chowdhury second secretary to the mission in Tehran and Abdul Aziz Pasha first secretary to the mission in Buenos Aires.
The appointments were made ignoring all rules and regulations while they were hiding in different countries including Libya. They had held the posts until 1996, said the minister.
On assumption of office on June 23, 1996, the Awami League government ordered them to return to Bangladesh. But they ignored it and stayed away from work without permission, she said.
The government then sacked them from jobs in line with the law, Dipu Moni said.
The BNP-Jamaat government in 2001 cancelled the previous order and sent Aziz Pasha on retirement ignoring the law, said the statement.