ACC probes ‘extortion’ allegation against transport leader Enayet

The Anti-Corruption Commission has opened a probe against transport sector leader Khandaker Enayetullah over the allegation of extorting Tk 16.5 million per day from the buses in Dhaka and its surroundings.

ACC Deputy Director Mohammed Nurul Huda recently wrote to the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority seeking information on the complaint against Enayet.

Enayetullah, also general secretary of Dhaka Road Transport Owners Association, has allegedly extorted Tk 16.5 million a day from the 15,000 buses operating in Dhaka and its surroundings, and also amassed illegal wealth running into millions, the ACC said in the letter.

ACC sought the details of the vehicles registered under the names of Enayetullah, his wife Nargis Samsad, daughter Chashme Jahan Nishi and son Ridwanul Ashiq Niloy to the investigation officer.

Enayetullah denied any wrongdoing, dismissing the ACC probe as a 'conspiracy' against him.

"We expelled the extortionists from the organisation a year ago. Since then they have been raising allegations against us in the media and other places," he said.

On Oct 1 last year, former leader of Road Transport Owners Association Ismail Hossain Bachchu accused Enayet of extorting 'Tk 16.5 million per day,' in a press briefing under the banner of 'Bangladesh Road Transport Owner-Worker Unity.'

"It's a false allegation. There's no scope for extortion in Dhaka," Enayetullah said in protest on Oct 27.

Road Transport Owners Association President Mashiur Rahman Ranga called Ismail Hossain Bachchu an 'extortionist.'