ACC Approves Case Against KDA Chief Engineer and Seven Others Over Khulna Shipyard Road Project
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has approved filing a case against eight people, including the chief engineer (current charge) of the Khulna Development Authority (KDA), over alleged irregularities and corruption in the Khulna Shipyard Road widening and development project. Alongside chief engineer Kazi Md. Sabirul Alam, the accused include top officials of contracting firms and several former and current KDA engineers.
On Friday (23 October), ACC Khulna deputy director Mamunur Rashid Chowdhury confirmed the approval. According to a BSS report, the commission granted permission to file the case last Monday. The case itself has not yet been filed, but the official said it would be lodged soon.
Among the accused are Md. Ataur Rahman, chairman of Khan Limited and lead partner of the Khulna Shipyard Road widening and development project, and Sheikh Mahabub Rahman, managing director of contracting firm Mahabub Brothers Limited and a partner in the project.
The other accused from the KDA are former superintending engineer Shamim Jehad, executive engineer (project) Md. Arman Hossain, executive engineer (current charge) Muntasir Mamun, assistant engineer Basudeb Kumar Biswas and sub-assistant engineer Sharif Wahiduzzaman — eight people in total, spanning government officials and contractors.
According to the ACC's allegations, local contractor Mahabub Brothers Limited had been given the work order to implement the road project. However, the road was not built according to the project plan, and several crore taka of government money was allegedly embezzled.
Charges have been brought against the accused under the Penal Code and the Anti-Corruption Act, which are punishable offences. With the commission's approval following its inquiry, the way is now open for the case to be formally filed.
The Khulna Shipyard Road has long been in the spotlight because of the extraordinary delay in its construction. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman recently expressed anger at an ECNEC meeting over the unprecedented 13-year delay in building the road, and directed that departmental and punitive action be taken against the officials involved.
Following the prime minister's anger and directive, scrutiny of irregularities in the project appears to have gathered pace, and the ACC's approval is being seen as part of that sequence.
ACC Khulna deputy director Mamunur Rashid Chowdhury said the commission has given permission to file the case, but the case has not been filed yet; it will be filed soon.
Once the case is filed, the allegations will be tested through investigation, charge sheet and trial. The accused are not yet formally defendants in a filed case, but the approval moves the long-standing project corruption allegations into the legal process.
When the road project — a long-running source of suffering for Khulna residents — will finally be completed remains uncertain. The ACC's move, however, has renewed expectations of accountability in the project's implementation.
