Joint secretary withdrawn from duty

The government has withdrawn Joint Secretary Dr AKM Anisur Rahman, a member of the Mongla Port Authority, following the recovery of the decomposing body of his elderly mother, Nurjahan Begum, from a residence in the capital's Mirpur area.

The Ministry of Public Administration issued a notification on Wednesday, attaching Anisur Rahman to the ministry.

According to the order, he has been directed to report to the ministry by Thursday (today). Failure to do so will result in his being deemed automatically stand-released from his current post.

Anisur was serving as Member (Engineering and Development) of the Mongla Port Authority before the reassignment.

The development comes days after the body of 75-year-old Nurjahan Begum was recovered from a flat in Mirpur-11 on May 31. She had been living with her daughter, Fatima Nasrin Sultana, a schoolteacher, on the fourth floor of a five-storey building.

Police recovered the body in a decomposed state after receiving a call through the national emergency service 999. Although the daughter lived in an adjacent room in the same flat, she did not inform law enforcement authorities about her mother's death, according to police.

Speaking on Wednesday, State Minister for Public Administration Md Abdul Bari said the government was verifying the facts surrounding the incident and would take action in accordance with existing laws and regulations.

talhabinhabib@yahoo.com