ACC sues Mridha, minister's ex-APS

The Anti-Corruption Commission filed two cases against the key figures of the railwaygate scandal, Yusuf Ali Mridha and Omer Faruq Talukder, yesterday afternoon in connection with earning wealth illegally.
Both the cases were filed with Ramna police, Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya, ACC public relations officer, told The Daily Star.
ACC Assistant Director Rashedur Reja filed the case against Faruq, the sacked assistant personal secretary to former railway minister Suranjit Sengupta, while the commission's Deputy Director Rezaul Hassan Tarafder filed the other case against Mridha, the suspended general manager of Bangladesh Railway (eastern zone).
According to ACC officials, Faruq was sued for earning around Tk 1.04 crore illegally while Mridha for around Tk 40.10 lakh. The ACC found the proof of the duo's illegal earning after months of enquiry. On Sunday it decided to file the cases.
The enquiry against the two was launched after the ACC had found dissimilarity between their wealth statements submitted to the commission and the findings of the ACC, said officials.
On April 9, border guards arrested Faruq and Mridha at Pilkhana along with railway's Dhaka Divisional Security Commandant Enamul Huq and Ali Azam, driver of the microbus that was reportedly carrying Tk 70 lakh to Suranjit's Dhanmondi residence in the capital.
Since the incident, Ali Azam has remained missing. He had driven the microbus into the border guard headquarters and alarmed the personnel inside that there was illegal money in the vehicle.
Faruq was sacked and Mridha suspended following the recovery.
ACC Secretary Faizur Rahman Chowdhury at a press briefing yesterday morning officially announced their decision to file the cases at its Segunbagicha office.
Replying to queries on the missing driver, he said, “Azam is still traceless, but the investigation cannot wait for that. Many things will come into light if and when he is found.”
The ACC secretary further said the commission had also approved filing of a case against Prodip Kumar Das, bench officer of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court, for amassing wealth worth Tk 19.65 lakh through illegal means and another case against Ranu Biswas, wife of Khushi Mohon Biswas, an additional director of the Department of Narcotic Control, for amassing illegally wealth and property worth Tk 40 lakh.