Bangladesh's ex-speaker booked for corruption

Wednesday December 29, 2010 11:18:49 AM, IANS

Dhaka: Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed cases against the former speaker of parliament, his deputy and a senior opposition party leader for corruption, misappropriation of public funds and misuse of power.

Cases were filed Tuesday against former speaker Jamiruddin Sircar, his deputy Akhtar Hamid, secretary general of main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Khandaker Delwar Hossain, and two officials of the parliament secretariat for moving furniture from government houses, and drawing excess gas and electricity bills.

Sircar and his deputy held the constitutional offices during 2001-06, when Delwar Hossain was the chief whip.

The anti-graft body found that Sircar and Delwar had taken Tk 20 million ($282,000) as medical expenses and fuel allowances and forced the parliament secretariat to pay extra electricity bills ignoring the rules, sources in the ACC told The Daily Star newspaper.

The ACC conducted the probe over the last 12 months on recommendation of a parliamentary committee that did a preliminary exercise.

The investigators also detected that Delwar Hossain 'forced' the parliament secretariat to pay the bills of 12 electricity metres of his residence, though he was entitled to receive the bill of only one metre.

                                           Home | Top of the Page

Top Stories

2010 in Retrospect

A blockbuster year in Indian diplomacy

From Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, who visited India in January, to Russian   »

A year to cherish for India's athletes

P5 toasts emerging India; Pakistan, China migraine stays

Return of the stone rage in Kashmir

India again saw gold rush despite robust stock markets

  Most Read

Events in Delhi to mark poet Faiz's birth centenary

To commemorate the birth centenary of renowned Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz in 2011, the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (Sahmat) here has planned a series of cultural programmes centring on him next year  »

Digvijay's Karkare remarks: Cong downplays, BJP accuses him of using divisive language

Even as the Congress downplayed party general secretary Digvijay Singh's remarks about former Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare being a form of God for Muslims, BJP demanded clarification accusing Digvijay Singh of   »

  News Pick

'Goa home minister mute spectator to police-drug nexus'

A Congress legislator and top cricket official in Goa Tuesday said state home minister Ravi Naik and the police chief were mute spectators when it came to handling the investigation pertaining to the police  »

Andhra may be heading for political uncertainty

With the movement for a separate Telangana gathering momentum again, Andhra Pradesh appears to be heading for another round of political uncertainty. Hunger strikes, boycott of examinations, campus unrest and street   »

Did first humans emerge from Middle East, not Africa?

Scientists could be compelled to rewrite the history of the evolution of modern man after the discovery of 400,000-year-old human remains. Until now, researchers believed that homo sapiens, the direct descendants of   »

'Free press more important than free government'

A free press, which strives to be the voice of the people, is more vital than free government, Press Council of India (PCI) chairman G.N. Roy said Tuesday. According to Roy, a former Supreme Court judge and Gujarat   »

Iran hangs alleged spy, opposition collaborator

Iran Tuesday hanged a man charged with spying for Israel's Mossad intelligence service and another man for collaboration with an opposition group, the judiciary reported. Ali-Akbar S. had allegedly cooperated with   »