The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

The Anti-Corruption Commission has initiated a process to file cases against a few officials for their alleged involvement in misappropriation of Tk 175 crore in Meghna

and Meghna-Goumti toll plazas. The corruption involving the huge amount was detected by a special ACC team constituted to look into corruption in Roads and Highways department under Communications Ministry.

"The issue of filing cases against quite a few officials for their alleged corruption involving Tk 175 crore in Meghna and Meghna-Goumti toll plazas is under process," ACC director general (admin) Col Hanif Iqbal said in the Commission's regular briefing.

He said the special team, formed to reveal and prevent corruption in future in the Roads and Highways department, has been working since March 19 and the team has been able to detect some individuals involved in corruption. "The investigations against the identified individuals are on," Hanif said.

He said having analysed the documents gathered by the team it is seen that to stop misappropriation of toll money at the toll plazas of Meghna and Meghna-Goumti Bridges, initiative was taken during 1994-95.

"A contractor was appointed involving Tk 3.1 crore on June 16, 1996," Hanif said adding that the contractor made the sites suitable for taking tolls by supplying automatic machines and the sites were later handed over to Narayanganj Roads and Highways department.

He said when the Roads and Highways department started taking tolls in automatic process the earlier lease holder stopped it through a court order.

"But enough was not done to vacate the court order," Hanif said adding that toll taking without receipts continued until 2004 even after the expiry of the lease in 1999.

Besides, he said, the investigating team of the ACC believes that automatic toll taking was stopped with a plea of electricity disconnection for not paying the bill in due time.

The ACC director general said the investigations into a loss of about Tk 3 crore by the government for making the automatic system inactive citing various excuses are still on. The team is also investigating the issue of plundering huge money centering toll taking manually, he added.

He said the team is trying to determine the amount of government losses and identify the employees involved in it.