Corruption conundrum

Suranjit's APS Omar Faruq owns a flat in this building at Mohammadpur, Dhaka. Photo: Kailash Sarkar

The Monday night recovery of a stash of money from the vehicle of the rail minister's assistant personal secretary has opened a Pandora's box of reports on a web of corruption centring recruitment of about 7,000 people in the railway.
At the same time, Railway Minister Suranjit Sengupta's insistence that his APS did nothing wrong has raised suspicion of his involvement in the scandal.
Many have also questioned his forming probe bodies manned by the very people serving under him.
On Monday at 11:30pm, APS Omar Faruq Talukder, accompanied by Railway East Zone General Manager Yusuf Ali Mridha and Security Commandant Enamul Haq, was going by his Noah microbus to Suranjit's Jigatola residence with Tk 70 lakh.
But all went wrong when driver Ali Azam claimed Tk 5 lakh as his share.
Refused by the other three, he pulled over to the Pilkhana BGB headquarters and shouted at guards, saying there was a huge amount of illegal money in the microbus, police sources said.
The BGB detained them and the next morning freed all but the driver, Enamul Huq told this correspondent on Wednesday.
The driver, a resident of Dhaka Udyan at Mohammadpur, could not be traced till last night. Police and intelligence sources could not say anything about his location.
But BGB Director General Maj Gen Anwar Hossain Tuesday noon claimed they had released all of the four.
Faruq, a political appointee and a close aide to Suranjit, has been out of trace since his release.
During a visit yesterday, this correspondent found Omar Faruq's fourth-floor flat at Pisciculture Housing Society of Mohammadpur, Dhaka locked from outside.
The man bought the 1,100 square-feet flat of house-84 on road-3 around six months ago.
Security guards at the building said Faruq left his house in a rickshaw Tuesday noon. About 15 to 20 minutes later, an unidentified person drove the Noah microbus away from the building.
After a while, his wife and their three-year-old daughter left in a rickshaw. None of the family returned till last night.
The Daily Star repeatedly tried to contact him over his two mobile phones since Tuesday, but both were found switched off.
Any communication with Mridha was not possible either. This correspondent visited the GM's residence at Railway Officers' Quarter in the capital's Shajahanpur on Wednesday. A domestic help opened the door and said neither Mridha nor his wife was home.
“It is a sad incident,” Mahbubul Alam Hanif, the ruling Awami League's joint general secretary, told the press yesterday. “The matter is under investigation… on its completion, we will talk about it in details. If the allegation proves to be true, then law will take its own course.”
Suranjit, a veteran AL leader, has a long colourful political career, he added. “We cannot accept such graft allegations against a person with such a profile.”
“Awami League itself will also investigate the matter if the people doubt the probe committees' findings,” Hanif said and dismissed forming any judicial committee as demanded by the main opposition BNP, saying this was an administrative affair.
Responding to questions, he further said in the developed world resignation of a minister in such circumstances is hailed while in a country like Bangladesh it is taken negatively.
RECRUITMENT BUSINESS
A section of ministry officials, ruling party men and Rail Sramik League members have been out to make money through appointment business since the government six months ago decided to recruit 7,500 people to Bangladesh Railway.
The authorities already hired about 3,000 persons who bribed the people in power and with connections, BR officials alleged.
In the railwaygate controversy, according to ministry sources, Omar Faruq and Mridha are the key figures. The Tk 70 lakh seized Monday night was collected from jobseekers in the railway east zone.
While Mridha holds the authority to form recruitment committees and finally approve appointments, Faruq got a quota of several hundred posts so that he could get bucks directly, apart from taking commission as a middleman.
Railway officials said Mridha was very desperate to grab the post of railway's director general. “He managed to establish good relations with the railway minister through the APS,” said a senior official, requesting anonymity.
As an officer, Mridha's integrity was questioned by many. His activities also as chief engineer (east) triggered controversy. “Since he became GM last year, the number of allegations against him increased,” said the official, adding Mridha used to carry out his illegal activities in league with other officials.
Also, the pro-AL Rail Sramik League managed to control the 30 percent quota reserved for the dependents of railway employees.
“Recently, the Sramik League leaders met the rail minister and top railway officials and demanded this 30 percent quota be filled with persons recommended by them.
“Their demand was accepted as they are backed by some influential Awami League leaders, including a couple of ministers. It is now an open secret,” said another top railway official, wishing anonymity, yesterday.
“The Railway Sramik League leaders recommended names of hundreds allegedly after taking bribes. They have already amassed huge money. They drive expensive cars. They have also flats in Dhaka.”
Railway Sramik League President Humayun Kabir dismissed the allegation, saying they recommend dependents of the railway staff for jobs but did not take bribes.
The 30 percent quota reserved for the successors of freedom fighters is another option of making money. The candidates first paid money for demand order (DO) letters to get job. This DO is an unofficial recommendation letter.
Ministers and lawmakers from different districts also sent DO letters to the railway minister. But most of the letters were not entertained. Rather, the railway ministry began to recruit those who were recommended by APS Faruq and GM Mridha, alleged many in the railway.
Several ministers requested Suranjit to place a list of people who qualified in the written exam and then go for recruitment. But he paid no heed to the minister's suggestion.
Talking to The Daily Star, some other ministers said they knew that the railway minister was recruiting people of his choice without any examination.
“We also requested him [Suranjit] that if the list is prepared and placed online, then we can recommend some people for job from our constituencies,” a senior minister said, preferring not to be named.
The Daily Star talked to two victims of the recruitment trade.
Mohammad Farid, an applicant for junior auditor, qualified in the written test held on October 9 last year.
Over the mobile phone, Farid, an honours final year student of MM College in Jessore, alleged that when he had gone to the Central Railway Building (CRB) in Chittagong in February this year to see the written test result, a staff in the office of Nazrul Islam, additional financial adviser and chief accounts officer, demanded Tk 5 lakh from him. “The staff told me that otherwise I would not get the viva card.”
“I then talked to my family members in Magura. They informed me that they could manage only Tk 2 lakh. But that staff didn't agree,” said Farid.
Another applicant for the same post is Abdul Kadir, who did not qualify in the written test.
He applied to Nazrul Islam to see his answer sheet since his written test was satisfactory.
“But the official refused my application,” Kadir said, adding that when he was coming out of the office, a staff demanded Tk 6 lakh to ensure the job.
Our staff correspondent from Chittagong adds, seven advertisements were published in October and November 2010 to hire over 3,200 people in the railway's east zone in 38 categories, including junior auditor, office assistant, trade apprentice and assistant station master.
Recruitment process of around 700 posts in 10 categories, including office assistant and assistant station master, later stopped after filing of cases by a number of applicants, said Senior Welfare Officer Golam Kibria.
Recruitment in 18 categories was completed by August last year, he added.
It is alleged that a section of railway officials and staff took bribe ranging from Tk 2.5 lakh to Tk 6 lakh from the applicants, assuring them of the job.
Many applicants who qualified in the written tests did not get admit cards for viva as they failed to pay bribe demanded by the staff.
Additional FA & CAO Nazrul Islam, who was the convener of the recruitment committee, could not be reached for his comment despite repeated attempts over the mobile phone.
ACC PROBE COMMITTEE
The Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday formed a three-member committee to investigate the alleged corruption in the recruitment.
“The three-member committee headed by Deputy Director Mohammad Abu Sayeed has been asked to investigate the entire recruitment process and the source of the money that was seized on Monday,” ACC boss Ghulam Rahman told The Daily Star last night.
In a meeting, the anti-graft watchdog also asked the committee to investigate the source of wealth of the trio -- Omar Faruq, Yusuf Ali Mridha and Enamul Huq.
The committee will also examine whether Suranjit was involved in Monday's scandal.