ACC to file case against six railway officials

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) initiated a case against six senior officials of Bangladesh Railway (BR) on Sunday on charges of causing a loss of Tk 3.58 billion to the state through misuse of power, fraudulent feasibility assessments, and procurement irregularities in a project involving 125 luggage vans.
According to a written complaint, filed by Md Habibur Rahman -Assistant Director of the ACC headquarters, approval was obtained to lodge the case following an internal directive issued on Nov 6.
The officials accused of jointly committing the offence included Ahmed Mahbub Chowdhury, former chief mechanical engineer; Mrinal Kanti Banik, director; Abdul Matin Chowdhury, project director of the Rolling Stock Operations Improvement Project; former general managers Harun-ur-Rashid and Mizanur Rahman; and former director general Md Shamsuzzaman.
The ACC said the accused abused their official authority and conspired to approve a procurement plan for 75 meter-gauge and 50 broad-gauge luggage vans without conducting essential feasibility studies, market assessments, or demand analyses.
Though the development project proposal (DPP) presented the purchase as economically viable - showing projected profits of Tk 324.6 million in FY 2023-24 and Tk 286 million in FY 2024-25 - the actual revenue drastically fell short.
The ACC's enforcement team found that the feasibility committee failed to perform any meaningful market survey, ignored logistics constraints, and misrepresented the potential benefits of transporting agricultural goods via luggage vans.
Investigators concluded that the procurement was unnecessary for existing rail infrastructure, and it was pushed forward with dishonest intent, resulting in the state incurring losses.

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