BANGLADESH

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has served legal notices on the former railway minister's sacked Assistant Personal Secretary (APS) Omar Faruq Talukder and four others asking them to submit the details of their properties within seven working days.

Those facing action for their alleged involvement in the cash recovery scandal are Railway General Manager (East) Yusuf Ali Mridha and his wife, and suspended Dhaka zone railway police's Commandant Enamul Huq and his wife.

"According to our primary investigation, they've properties beyond their known sources of income. So, they were served notices on Monday asking them to submit details of their properties," ACC Commissioner Mohammad Sahabuddin Chuppu told .

Border Guard Bangladesh personnel detained Faruk, Mridha and Enamul when a car carrying them entered the BGB headquarters in Peelkhana in the wee hours of Apr 10. BGB men recovered Tk 7 million from the car. However, they were later released, along with the money and the vehicle.

Several newspaper reports said the money was taken as bribe for making appointments in the railways.

Faruq, Mridha and Enamul were suspended following the incident.

Taking responsibility for the incident, Suranjit stepped down as the railway minister on April 16, but the government retained him as a minister without portfolio.

The Railway Department formed an investigation committee over the cash scandal that submitted its findings on Sunday. The probe report claimed that former Railway Minister Suranjit Sengupta was not involved in the scandal.

It said that there was Tk 7 million in Faruk's car which he deposited in his bank account. Mridha and Enamul were also not involved in the incident, the report said.

The ACC had also formed a two-member committee led by its Deputy Director Abu Syed to investigate into the scandal and the related aspects.

On Apr 18, Mridha, Faruk and Enamul appeared before the ACC investigators and gave their statements.