BNP’s Rizvi calls for probe into ex-finance minister Saifur Rahman’s 2009 death

BNP Acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi has called for an investigation into whether former finance minister M Saifur Rahman’s 2009 death in a road accident involved any conspiracy.

Rizvi raised the question at a discussion on Monday marking the 17th anniversary of Saifur Rahman’s death.

“One thing always crosses my mind,” he said. “Saifur Rahman died in an accident. Was it merely an accident, or was there some national or international conspiracy behind it?”

He said the issue should be examined, arguing that Saifur’s economic policies and nationalist political outlook may have made him unpopular with some interests at home and abroad.

“There is indeed a suspicion surrounding his death,” Rizvi said. “We need to find out whether there was any conspiracy behind it.”

Saifur Rahman died in a road accident on Sept 5, 2009, in Brahmanbaria while travelling to Dhaka from his home in Moulvibazar.

The discussion was organised by the M Saifur Rahman Memorial Council at the National Press Club.

Rizvi also paid tribute to Saifur’s career, describing him as an “asset to the nation” and a source of pride for the BNP.

He said Saifur’s economic record had been recognised both in Bangladesh and abroad.

Rizvi also referred to accounts of foreign leaders praising Saifur’s work and said his economic liberalisation policies had influenced thinking beyond Bangladesh.

He argued that Saifur had maintained tighter control over public finances and the banking sector during his time as finance minister.

Rizvi contrasted that period with what he described as years of looting, money laundering and weakening of the banking system.

“During the past 17 years, we saw syndicates looting banks and taking money away,” he said.

“But when Saifur Rahman was finance minister and managed the national economy, we did not hear about this scale of looting or money laundering.”

Rizvi said Saifur had prepared budgets based on domestic revenue collection and had avoided excessive dependence on bank borrowing.

He described the past 17 years as an “economy of looting” in which money laundering had become entrenched.