Three accommodation directorate officers suspended over ‘bribery, irregularities’

They may influence investigation if kept in service, says housing ministry

Three officers of the Directorate of Government Accommodation have been suspended over allegations of corruption, irregularities, and bribery in the allocation of state housing.

They are Deputy Director Rashed Ahmed Sadi, Assistant Director Bilal Hossain, and Assistant Accountant Md Nazrul Islam.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Ministry of Housing and Public Works said the suspensions were linked to multiple charges, including recommending housing allocations without considering service grade or basic salary, demanding large sums of money from applicants for D-1 and D-2 category houses, and irregularities during a housing allocation meeting on Sept 7 this year.

The previous day, the ministry issued a notification against Deputy Director Rashed, accusing him of amassing substantial wealth and immovable property through a syndicate in government housing allocations.

The suspension order notes that if the officials remained in service, they could become involved in further criminal activity and influence ongoing investigations against them.

The ministry said the officials would receive subsistence allowances during their suspension, in line with service regulations.