The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Monday sent notices to the Ministry of Public Administration and the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs to take departmental action against five secretaries after canceling their fake freedom fighter (FF) certificates.
Confirming the news, ACC Deputy Director and its public relations officer Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya said the anti-graft body sent notices, signed by ACC secretary Maksudul Hasan Khan, to the ministries in the evening.
The five are Health Secretary Niaz Uddin Mia, Public Service Commission Secretary AKM Amir Hossain, former Liberation War Affairs secretary KH Masud Siddiqui (now an OSD), former joint secretary of Liberation War Affairs Ministry Abul Kashem Talukder (currently an OSD) and Privatisation Commission Chairman Molla Waheeduzzaman.
The notice sought cancellation of their gazette, punitive and legal action against them following an investigation into the allegation that the government officials resorted to forgery to obtain freedom fighters' certificate, he said.
Seeking anonymity, a senior ACC official said they submitted fake documents to obtain the certificates. They even did not appear before the Jatiya Muktijoddha Council for the mandatory verification of their participation in the war.
He said of the five, Niaz Uddin, Amir Hossain, Masud Siddiqui and Abul Kashem took the certificates towards the end of their service period late last year while Molla Waheeduzzaman took it after retiring as secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, sources said.
Siddiqui was made an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) on August 18. A government probe body recently accused him of purchasing subpar crests awarded to foreign friends for their contributions to the 1971 Liberation War.
The Ministry of Public Administration on August 10 decided to take action under criminal law against those who obtained freedom fighters' certificates by placing forged documents to extend their service length.
It also decided to cancel the additional benefits of those who did not declare themselves as freedom fighters when they joined the service.
None of these five in question declared themselves as freedom fighters when they entered government service, according to the ACC sources.
The government has so far scraped freedom fighters' certificates of 182 government officials this year, as they obtained those through forgery.
