High Court issues 6-month deadline to wrap up probe into Rooppur pillow scam

The High Court has ordered officials to complete within six months the investigation in four graft cases over the irregularities in the purchase of furniture and other home appliances at Pabna's Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant Project.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 19 Oct 2020, 01:47 PM
Updated : 19 Oct 2020, 01:47 PM

The court also issued a 'standover' (adjournment) on a rule over the bail of Md Shafiqul Islam, former assistant engineer of housing and public works ministry's Pabna Zone, who has been sent to jail pending trial in three graft cases.

The virtual bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Ahmed Sohel passed the orders at a hearing on the rule on Monday.

Lawyer Sayed Ahmed Raza argued for the petitioner while Advocate Md Khurshid Alam Khan appeared on behalf of the Anti-Corruption Commission. Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik and Assistant Attorney General Mahjabin Rabbani Deepa represented the state.

"On Aug 17, the High Court issued a rule on the question of bail to Shafiqul Islam in three cases. The hearings on that rule have been held over the last few days," Khurshid told bdnews24.com.

"The matter has now been put on hold and the ACC has been directed to complete its investigation during that time."

Asked whether the latest order applies to all four cases, Khurshid said, "Engineer Shafiqul Islam has applied for bail in three cases. The court had issued a rule in all three. Therefore, the court must have been addressing the probe in those three cases. But we are assuming that the investigation in the four cases has to be completed within six months."

The cases were started over the allegations of 'unusual expenditure' on furniture and other household items for the staff at Bangladesh's first nuclear power plant.

Thirteen people were sent to jail for their involvement in what would later be described as the 'pillow scam', as each pillow for the staff was reportedly bought for Tk 5,957, and its carrying cost from the shop to the building was Tk 760.

The purchase price of each refrigerator was shown Tk 94, 250 and Tk 12, 521 was shown as the lifting charge. Similarly, a TV, purchased at Tk 86,970, was lifted spending Tk 7,638, while a bed sheet was shown to have been bought for Tk 5,986 with an additional lifting charge of Tk 931.

The government withdrew Masudul Alam, an executive engineer of the power plant project, and launched an investigation into the graft allegations in May 2019.

The investigators have found that 34 engineers were involved in the Tk 622 million alleged corruption in the purchase of home appliances and furniture.