Dhaka: A court here today set April 24 for submitting probe reports in four graft cases filed against 19 people, including Tarique Ahmed Siddique, former military adviser to ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, for allegedly embezzling Taka 812 crore from four projects of three airports in the country. Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Md Zakir Hossain Galib passed the order, accepting first information reports (FIRs) of the cases.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the four cases on January 27. The case documents reveal that around Taka 200 crore was embezzled from a project to install a radar system at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. Another Taka 250 crore was misappropriated from the third terminal projects of the same airport. Additionally, Taka 212 crore was siphoned off from Sylhet Osmani International Airport’s expansion project, and Taka 150 crore was embezzled from the Cox’s Bazar International Airport Terminal and Runway Development Project, as stated by the ACC.
The other prominent accused in these cases include former senior secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism Mohibul Haque, former joint secretary Janendranath Sarkar, former chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Air Vice Marshal (retd) Muhammad Mafidur Rahman, former chief engineer Abdul Malek, and former superintendent engineer Habibur Rahman.