Probe at final stage

Sohel Rana

One year has passed since the Rana Plaza collapsed killing 1,135 people but the Anti-Corruption Commission has not yet completed its investigation into corruption allegations against the building owner, Sohel Rana.  
The ACC investigation is at the final stage and a report will be submitted soon, ACC Secretary Faizur Rahman Chowdhury told journalist at a press briefing at the office of the anti-graft body in the capital's Segunbagicha yesterday.
Prompted by newspaper reports, ACC formed a committee on April 28 last year, four days after the tragedy, to investigate how Rana had amassed his wealth.  
The committee, comprised of ACC Deputy Director Mohammad Mofidul Islam and Assistant Director Mohammad Mahbubul Alam, is also supposed to look into whether Rana Plaza had been built following Bangladesh National Building Code.
The nine-storey Rana Plaza was not approved by Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) though Rajuk's approval was mandatory, its Chairman Nurul Huda told The Daily Star earlier.
At yesterday's press briefing, Faizur said ACC was probing corruption allegations against Rana while the Criminal Investigation Department was investigating the criminal charges against him.
"We have been communicating with them [CID] to make sure that there is no overlapping in the probe reports," he said, adding that the CID's investigation was also at the final stage.
According to ACC's monthly activities presented at the briefing, the anti-graft body received 744 corruption complaints in March, of which only nine were approved for investigation after primary scrutiny and inquiry.
Thirty-seven cases were filed in the month against 59 people, including 34 government officials, six businessmen, one politician and two public representatives. As many as 92 people were charge-sheeted by the ACC, including 48 government officials and nine public representatives.