ACC raids three places in one day over irregularity complaints

The Enforcement Unit of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has carried out three separate operations in different parts of the country on the basis of specific complaints. The operations took place at the Pirojpur passport office, the Kurigram General Hospital and a Nilphamari branch of Sonali Bank. ACC sources confirmed the information on Monday (November 9).

The ACC raided the Pirojpur regional passport office over allegations that its officers and staff harassed service recipients, collected extra money and committed irregularities in collusion with a broker syndicate. An enforcement team from the ACC's Integrated District Office in Pirojpur observed the passport office's service centres in disguise on Monday.

The team spoke to service recipients to verify the harassment and the dominance of brokers. It also collected and reviewed the list of passport applications that have been pending for a long time. The authorities concerned were advised to keep the service delivery process transparent and free of harassment.

The enforcement team will submit a full report to the commission after reviewing the records collected. Complaints about broker dominance and harassment of service recipients at the passport office are long-standing, and this operation followed those complaints.

Meanwhile, an operation was carried out at the 250-bed Kurigram General Hospital over allegations of harassment in providing treatment, irregularities in the purchase of medical equipment worth about Tk 21 crore, and waste of government money by leaving equipment unused for a long time.

A team from the ACC's Integrated District Office in Kurigram raided the hospital on Monday, collected the list of medical equipment bought in the 2018-2019 fiscal year and inspected it on the spot. During the inspection, several important pieces of equipment were found lying unused in locked rooms.

The hospital's residential medical officer said the equipment could not be used because the necessary setup had not been put in place. The authorities were also advised to address the shortfall in the hospital's cleanliness. Purchase-related documents were collected to examine whether any irregularity occurred in procurement, and a detailed report will be given to the commission after review.

In addition, the ACC raided the Kishoreganj branch of Sonali Bank PLC in Nilphamari over allegations that about Tk 1 crore was embezzled by taking customers' cheques and national identity cards on the promise of loans and withdrawing extra loans in their names.

An enforcement team from the ACC's Integrated District Office in Rangpur collected the loan records related to the complaint from the bank on Monday. The bank's current branch manager and several customers were questioned at the time.

It emerged that Bangladesh Bank and the Sonali Bank authorities had earlier investigated the same allegation. A detailed report will be submitted to the commission after reviewing the collected records and the earlier investigation reports.

In all three operations, the ACC enforcement teams collected the relevant records and said they would report to the commission after reviewing them. If the complaints are found to be true and evidence of irregularities is established, further legal steps are expected to follow.