BANGLADESH

Railway minister Suranjit Sengupta suspended his assistant personal secretary on Wednesday, a day after he was found moving in a car with unaccounted for Tk 7mn in cash.

Minister's personal secretary Akhtaruzzaman confirmed that a suspension order has already been issued to APS Omar Faruq.

Faruq has been put under suspension with effect from Wednesday morning.

Soon after recovery of money, the minister had blamed the driver for the whole incident. He had said that the driver tried to 'blackmail and hijack' Faruq while returning home with the cash.

Border Guards Bangladesh had found the money in the car carrying Faruq and general manager of Railway Division (East) Yusuf Ali Mridha at Zigatola in the wee hours of Tuesday. The only other person in the car was the driver.

However, they were released later and the law-enforcers remained tight-lipped on the incident.

Since the recovery, the minister, who took over the newly-created railways ministry barely five months back, has faced widespread criticism.

Newspapers reported that the money was taken as bribe for making appointment in the ministry.

Former vice president of Bangladesh Chhatra League's Janagirnagar University unit, Faruq hails from Sunamganj.