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Published : 12 Oct 2025, 06:22 PM
The Anti-Corruption Commission has filed a case against deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and 16 others over alleged “irregularities, abuse of power, and corruption” in awarding the toll collection contract for the Meghna-Gomti Bridge on the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway.
On Sunday, ACC Public Relations Officer Tanzir Ahmed said the agency’s Assistant Director Md Tanzil Hasan filed the case with the Combined District Office Dhaka-1.
Others to be named as suspects include former industry minister Amir Hossain Amu, former commerce minister Tofail Ahmed, former local government minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, former bridges minister Obaidul Quader, former law minister Anisul Huq, former state minister for finance and planning MA Mannan, former secretary MAN Siddique, former additional secretary Faruk Jalil, former deputy secretary Mohammad Shafiqul Karim, former chief engineers Firoz Iqbal and Ibne Alam Hasan, and former additional chief engineers Aftab Hossain Khan and Abdus Salam.
Others among the suspects are Computer Network Systems Ltd managing director Munir-Uz-Zaman Chowdhury, and directors Selina Chowdhury and Ikram Iqbal.
Citing preliminary findings, the anti-graft agency said, in 2016, the previous tender for toll collection was “deliberately cancelled” to allow CNS Ltd to be appointed through a direct procurement process.
The company was then awarded a five-year contract without setting a specific service charge, instead fixing the rate at 17.75 percent of the total toll collected, excluding VAT and income tax.
Under the deal, CNS Ltd received about Tk 4.89 billion, while MBL-ATT had operated the same bridge between 2010 and 2015 for just Tk 155.8 million. Later, UDC Construction Ltd was awarded the 2022–2025 contract for Tk 675.4 million, equivalent to about Tk 1.12 billion over five years.
The ACC said CNS also claimed an additional Tk 674.3 million for “new technology and infrastructure costs”.
A comparative analysis by the commission estimated that the irregular award caused the government a financial loss of around Tk 3.09 billion.
According to the ACC, officials from the Roads and Highways Department, the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, and members of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase colluded with CNS directors in carrying out the alleged irregularities.
