Chhatra League leader returns ‘mistakenly sent’ aid money

A local leader of Bangladesh Chhatra League has returned aid money ‘erroneously’ sent to his mobile phone and given to the original beneficiary.

The student leader, Delowar Hossain, is a joint convener of Dowarabazar Upazila’s Chhatra League and also covener of Dowarabazar Government Degree College.

With the coronavirus crisis taking a heavy toll on the finances of the people, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina provided Tk 2,500 to five million families each as Eid-u-Fitr gifts through mobile banking.

Delowar received Tk 2,500 in his Nagad account on the night of May 25. Since he was not on any government lists of aid beneficiaries, he began the search for the original recipient of the money.

Delowar told bdnews24.com he initially contacted the Upazila executive officer or UNO but could not trace out the beneficiary. On Monday, he collected the email ID of the prime minister’s Principal Secretary Ahmad Kaikaus from the PMO website and informed him about the mistake.

The next day, Joint Secretary Saiful Islam at the finance ministry instructed him to deposit the money in a Sonali Bank account.

“The amount of the aid may not be big, but I wanted the original recipient to get it as he must have needed it,” Delowar said.

Dowarabazar Upazila UNO Sonia Sultana told bdnews24.com, “Due to a mistake in the last digit of the phone number, the money which was meant for Lucky Akter went to Delowar Hossain’s account.”

The name of the original recipient, however, was not found on the Upazila’s list.

“Later with the help of deputy commissioner’s office we discovered the original recipient was a resident of Biswambharpur Upazila and the authorities delivered the money to Lucky Akter.”