Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has launched an investigation into the illegal assets of Emdadul Haque alias Dada Emdad, assistant private secretary (APS) of former minister Golam Dastagir Gazi, for amassing huge wealth abusing power over the last decade.

The anti-graft watch dog has extended timeline for submitting information upon request of Emdad. As APS of Gazi, Emdad drew salary on rank of senior assistant secretary at sixth grade. An APS can receive maximum Tk 67,010 as monthly salary.

In 13 years, he received Tk 1.5 billion as salary. However, Emdad amassed wealth abusing power. He has hidden property worth billions of taka in his and others’ names in the capital, Narayanganj and Sirajganj, according to investigation.

ACC Commissioner Jahurul Haque said that investigation has been started after verifying the complaint.

“After the investigation, the investigating officer submits a report to the commission to know about the truth of the complaint,” he said.

“Generally, a case can be made if provable documents are produced in the court. This case will not be an exception. ACC will take a decision after reviewing the inquiry report. The investigating officer has been urged to complete the investigation in time,” he added.

When asked, ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan said, “The Commission can receive a complaint from any source and investigate it if it is scrutinized. In the interest of investigation, the accused is summoned for questioning. The authenticity of the various pieces of information obtained in the investigation needs to be confirmed.”

“Since Emdadul Haque served as the APS of a former minister, it will be understood only after the end of the investigation whether there is anyone else's involvement in this matter or not. If the preliminary inquiry finds evidence of acquiring assets other than known income, he will be served with a notice to file a statement of assets,” the lawyer said added.

ACC launched investigating the allegation of obtaining assets outside known income verifying specific allegations against Emdad on 22 February this year.

The Commission appointed ACC Assistant Director Prabir Kumar Das as the investigating officer to investigate the complaint on 3 March.

Recently, a letter was sent to Emdad asking some important documents, including income tax documents, bank account numbers, bank statements, and national identity cards, from the commission. However, Emdad failed to provide the information in the first phase.

On Sunday, Emdad came to the ACC and requested additional time, expressing his inability to provide the information to the investigating officer.

ACC gave him one more week to provide the information. At the same time, the account of all immovable and immovable assets of Emdad has also been sought. He is expected to provide this information to the ACC early next week. Apart from this, intelligence units are working to collect more confidential information about Emdad’s wealth.

Emdadul, son of Montu Mia of Dargah Para village under Shahjadpur municipality of Sirajganj, has recently invested in dredging and real estate business in different areas. He has amassed huge illegal wealth with the magical touch of Narayanganj-1 constituency MP Golam Dastgir Gazi.

Emdadul has been involved in various crimes -- extortion, land grabbing, illegal drug business and patronising terrorists in Rupganj.

The APS is ‘more powerful’ than Minister Gazi, according to locals. No entrepreneurs can start factories without giving extortion to Emdadul.

Most of the identified terrorists in Rupganj have close relations with him. The criminals shared photos with the controversial APS and Minister Gazi on social media different times.

With this limited salary, an officer cannot construct buildings in different areas of the capital. Emdadul owns a high-walled building near South Banasree Jame Masjid (House 30/B-30/C of Road No. 13/3 of K Block).

Besides, the controversial officer owns 14 flats in two buildings in Basabo, according to Saiful Islam, former caretaker of his house.

Emdadul lives in an apartment of Best Living Limited at North Basabo, according to media investigation. Its security guard said Emdadul has two flats in that apartment building.

He lives on the 5th floor. The price of the flat is at least Tk50 lakh. There is a car with government sticker in this building.

Sources say Emdadul has also invested in housing business. He holds 15% stakes in Rimjhim Land Developer. Besides, the corrupt officer took plots anonymously from different housing projects in Rupganj.

In different areas of Rupganj upazila, he gave illegal gas connections through low-quality pipes from Titas. To provide this connection, he formed a syndicate with Titas officials and employees and local terrorists. The government is losing crores of taka as revenue due to the illegal connections.

The minister’s APS earned illegal money as extortion through providing at least 1.5 lakh gas connections in residential and commercial projects in Rupganj. Locals say a one-time payment of Tk 30,000- 40,000 is required for each residential connection. For commercial connections, one has to pay a minimum of Tk2-15 lakh depending on the gas pressure. Hasanur Rahman, a resident of Tarabo municipality, said the unholy practice is run in connivance with the local administration and Titas employees.

Being the APS of the minister, Emdadul’s affinity with the local influencers of Rupganj has increased. He took control of dredging and sand business there. Investigation revealed that two dredgers were operated under the supervision of Rupganj Jubo League President Kawsar.

From these two dredgers, sand filling work is currently going on in Belabo, Qutubpur, Mochartaluk Mauza and Rimjhim Abasan. Due to the power of Emdadul, it was not possible to stop this sand filling even after filing a writ with the High Court. Earlier, common people set the dredgers on fire after being got angry. Currently, most of them are without homes.

The investigation also shows that Emdadul’s dredgers are running in Asian Duplex Town in the name of editor Munna Khan and Rupganj Upazila Press Club President Momen and General Secretary Maqbul Hossain. Emdadul’s dredgers are running in American City and Eastwood City in the name of Mahila Awami League’ Kanchan municipality unit President Shamsunnahar. Besides, other dredger owners in Rupganj have to pay 5% commission to Emdadul.

Under the umbrella of Emdadul, the terrorists are occupying the land by removing the boundary pillars of the Shitalakshya River. Sources say Emdadul and his men are occupying the banks of the river on both sides of Golam Dastgir Gazi Bir Prateek Bridge.

They are selling land to different companies like Afzal Food, NDE Readymix, KPC and Rongdhanu Group. Emdadul has built a palace, a house and market expending millions of taka in home town of Shahjadpur upazila in Sirajganj.

Locals said after becoming the minister’s APS, he bought a tin-shed house on half bigha of land. Buildings will be built there. The next to it is his ancestral house. He bought another two bighas of land nearby.

BDST: 1502 HRS, April 30, 2024
MSK/SMS