The High Court cancelled the admission of 169 students of the Class I of the school branch of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College for not complying with the age norms in the matter of admission and ordered to investigate the complaint of irregularities. The court has formed a committee headed by the Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Education for the investigation.

A High Court bench of Justice JBM Hasan and Justice Raziq Al Jalil gave the verdict on Tuesday (May 21).

The parents of two admission-seeking students filed a writ on January 14. They complained that students outside the specified age were admitted.

Then on January 23, the High Court issued a ruling and ordered the cancellation of the admission. Later, the Viqarunnisa Noon School and College authorities canceled the admission of 169 students under DSHSE guidance.

Later, 136 parents filed another writ regarding the validity of cancellation of admission. The High Court issued a ruling on this on March 25. After hearing the separate rulings together, the High Court fixed the date for the verdict.

Lawyer Mohammad Rafiul Islam appeared on behalf of the principal of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College in the court. Lawyer Shamim Sardar heard on behalf of the two parents who applied for the writ. Deputy Attorney General Kazi Mainul Hasan stood for the state.

Senior lawyer Mustafizur Rahman Khan, accompanied by lawyer Khurram Shah Murad, heard on behalf of 136 parents who applied for the writ. Later, lawyer Mohammad Rafiul Islam told the media that the hearing was held simultaneously on the separate writs filed by the parents regarding the admission of students in the first class and the validity of cancellation of 169 admissions.

Commenting that he was surprised by the US sanction, former Army Chief General (retd) Aziz Ahmed said that the ban was imposed on him based on false information.

He said, "I have not done anything that will tarnish the reputation of the army and the Border Guard of Bangladesh (BGB).

The former Army Chief said these things in an interview given to a private television at noon on Tuesday (21 May).

Former army Chief Aziz claimed that nothing had been informed about the ban by the government and said, "I will accept everything if I can prove that my brothers or any of my close relatives have contracted with these institutions during the tenure of BGB director general and army chief."

He claimed that the allegations are not proven without any evidence. On what basis the United States has imposed sanctions on me based on what charges they can say better. However, he said that there will be no legal or other process against this ban in the United States.

When asked if he will file any legal process or protest against the US ban, Aziz Ahmed said, I think these are not true. So I don't think it is necessary to protest. When asked about his family's trip to the United States, he did not want to comment.

He also said that on February 1, 2021, a play called 'All the Prime Minister's Men' was staged on Al Jazeera. This ban is closely related to him. Both allegations are the same, but not detailed here.

Aziz Ahmed said, the two reasons that the United States has banned me, is there any basis? They said, I have helped my brother with my title. I have committed no crime that deserves punishment. If you have any proof of the allegations they have made against me, please give me.

The festival of corruption is going on in Public Health Engineering Office of Netrakona. After allegations of tender control and fraud, taking bribes through banks, building houses through contractors, allegations of tender fraud have also been raised recently. Executive Engineer Moshiur Rahman's name is at the center of the complaint. And the Chief Engineer Tushar Mohan Sadhu Khan is pretending not to see. Sources said that a written complaint has been sent to the ministry.

Confirming that a written complaint has been filed with the ministry regarding tender fraud, the source said, the complaint, embezzlement of money without doing work, accepting bribes through banks under the pretense of getting tenders. There are specific allegations against Moshiur that he is building houses in Jamalpur by taking money from contractors.

However, overriding all the complaints, the issue of tender fraud has come to the fore as a major complaint. In the written complaint submitted to the ministry, it is said that Executive Engineer Moshiur Rahman has committed this fraud in the project of installing deep tube wells in various upazilas of Netrakona district. Project Name- Installation of 10 Nos 100 mm x 38 mm Deep Tube well with Submersible Pump at Different Upazilas of Netrokona Districts under revenue budget).

It has been said that the implementation of a similar project costs Tk. 10 lakh elsewhere, where this Executive Engineer is showing the cost of Tk. 15 lakh 66 thousand.

Besides, he submitted fake certificate in the name of M/s Sunny Traders (Mr. Shafiq). It is alleged that Moshiur Rahman and Shafiq jointly created fake certificates which is certified as correct by the stroke of the pen, Executive Engineer Moshiur himself. Uploaded the same in the e-GP system and sent the valuation report in the name of M/s Sunny Traders (Mr. Shafiq).

It is said in the charge sheet that although the matter was reported to the Superintendent Engineer( SE), Mashiur Rahman sent the evaluation report directly to the Chief Engineer bypassing the SE. It is referred to as crime and fraud, such corruption is corrupting the entire system.

Copies of forged certificates are attached to the complaint. The certificate shows that M/s Sunny Traders (Mr. Shafiq) has worked on 53 TSPs in safe water supply projects across the country during the financial year 2018-19. But the operation of the safe water supply project across the country has started in the fiscal year 2019-20. That means this work is done before the project starts which is false The contractor and Executive Engineer Moshiur Rahman have forged documents together, which is serious professional misconduct under Rule 127 of PPR-2008 and an offense punishable under Sub-rule 8.

Also, various types of evidence have been presented in this charge sheet.

Meanwhile, it has been alleged that Chief Engineer Tushar Mohan Sadhu Khan is fully aware of the matter. Allegations are being made that he himself may be involved in the corruption because he did not take any action despite knowing about the corruption in the projects under his control.

This reporter tried several times to contact Tushar Mohan Sadhu Khan of Public Health to find out about these allegations but failed. He tried to contact the mobile phone from different numbers but he did not receive any call. Later, he sent a small message on social media WhatsApp about the complaint, but he did not give any reply.

When Local Government Division Secretary Muhammad Ibrahim was called on his mobile phone to inquire whether he is aware of this, he also did not answer.

Earlier, Barta 24.com published a report on the corruption of Netrakona District Public Health Executive Engineer Moshiur Rahman under the title "Public Health 'Raghabbowal' Moshiur, Alleged Fraud through Bank to Give Tender".

In the report, the information of taking bribe of Tk. 3 lakh through the Sonali Bank account of BUET branch about getting the tender for 30 wash block repair works of Madan and Khaliajuri upazila of Netrokona came out. Besides, if he did not work with the money, he also attacked the bribe payer if he asked for the money back.

When complaints were made to the Chief Engineer of the Directorate, Moshiur boastfully said, "Do whatever you want, those Chief Engineers cannot do anything to me."

There are also allegations against Executive Engineer Mashiur of taking money from the contractors and building houses in Jamalpur without doing the work of installing 50 tube wells of the Haor project in Kalmakanda and misbehaving with the staff and contractors for various reasons, abusing them in inaudible language and threatening to kill them.

When asked about the allegations at that time, Moshiur Rahman told Barta24.com that these allegations are false. I don't even know anyone who made the complaint.

The receipt of the money given to your account through the bank is attached in the charge sheet, if you do not know him, then why did a stranger give so much money to your account, he said, this money was deposited by my staff. There is a signature there, that of my accounting assistant. If the contractor had submitted it, it would have had his signature. My accountant's signature was gone.

In response to the question that if your account assistant or your office staff deposited the money, then how the receipt of that money went into the hands of someone else, Mashiur said, I don't know. This is my question too because I have that slip too.

Barta24.com received a copy of the letter written by contractor Haji Abdul Wahab, who complained to the Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government. This is under the title of 'Executive Engineer Moshiur Rahman not giving work without money(proof attached)'. In the complaint he wrote, I submit to you that I am a third grade contractor in Netrakona district. I participated in small and medium quality work in various government offices including the Department of Public Health Engineering. When talking about the work to Moshiur Rahman, Executive Engineer of Department of Public Health Engineering, Netrakona, he showed the estimate of 30 wash block repair work in Madan and Khaliajuri upazilas and said, I will give this work to you, you prepare, how will you work in the E-GP system, he said. He said, I will do manual tender and quotation. If you want to do the work, I will have to pay Tk. 3 lakhs. He gave me an account number 4404034166124 of Sonali Bank, BUET branch. Ask him to deposit the money at that address and give the original slip. As promised, I went to Sonali Bank Netrakona branch on April 3 and deposited the money and asked him to submit the original slip and give the work order.

In the complaint, Haji Abdul Wahab also wrote that he (Mashiur) asked to meet on April 8. When he went to him on that date, he said, now there is a little problem and he is late for a couple of months. When I asked for my hard-earned money back, they came at me and said whatever they want, those Chief Engineers can't do anything for me.

When asked about the complaint, the SE of Mymensingh Circle of Public Health Engineering Department Abdul Awal told Barta24.com, I do not know anything about this complaint. I have not received any complaints. I will look into the matter if there is a complaint.

But I don't think that's the case, he added. There are many evil people! He said that he heard about the bank slip, but that does not mean that he took this money from there. Those who take bribes, I think they don't take it through banks, opined the Superintending Engineer. 

The United States has imposed sanctions on Bangladesh's former army chief General (retd) Aziz Ahmed for his alleged involvement in corruption. However, not only Aziz Ahmed, but also his family members have been informed about the declaration of ineligibility to enter the United States.

This information was given in a statement published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country on Monday local time (after Monday midnight Bangladesh time) (May 20).

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement that former General (Ret.) Aziz Ahmed, formerly the Bangladesh Army chief, has been designated by the Department of State under Section 7031(c) of the Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act due to his involvement in significant corruption. Foreign Office said this would make Aziz Ahmed and his family members generally ineligible for entry into the United States.

According to the statement, his (Aziz Ahmed) activities undermined the democratic institutions of Bangladesh and reduced public confidence in government institutions and processes.

The US State Department said Aziz Ahmed helped his brother avoid accountability for criminal activities in Bangladesh. In doing so, he engaged in significant corruption by interfering with the regulatory process. He also worked closely with his brother to ensure that he was unfairly awarded contracts in the military sector. He took bribes in exchange for government appointments for his own interests.

The action against Aziz Ahmed reaffirms the United States' commitment to strengthening democratic institutions and the rule of law in Bangladesh. The United States supports Bangladesh's anti-corruption efforts by making public services more transparent and accessible to citizens, improving business and regulatory systems, and increasing capacity to investigate and prosecute money laundering and other economic crimes.