75 politicians cleared of graft charges
Courtesy New Age 10/2/09
The Anti-Corruption Commission has cleared 340 people, including 75 politicians, of corruption charges pressed against them in December 2008 and January 2009, ACC spokesman Hanif Iqbal told reporters at a news briefing on Monday.
Hanif, also ACC director general (admin), said the commission had lodged 208 cases against the 340 accused persons on charge of misappropriating relief materials, receiving bribes, embezzling state money, causing loss to national exchequer, amassing illegal wealth and laundering money.
Sixty-six government officials and 188 people from other professions are among the 340 people accused during the military-controlled interim regime.
According to the commission’s statement, it cleared 277 persons in 176 corruption cases in December 2008 while the rest were cleared in January.
Of the politicians, eleven are from BNP, three from Awami Leauge, three from Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and 58 others are chairmen or counsellor from the BNP and AL, said the commission statement mentioned.
Former BNP ministers Tariqul Islam and Asadul Habib Dulu, who were accused in separate iron-sheet misappropriation cases, and former minister Aminul Huq, who was accused in embezzlement case, were cleared of the charges.
Seven former BNP lawmakers — Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu of Dhaka, Shah Mohamamd Abu Jafar of Faridpur, AKM Selim Reza Habib of Pabna, AKM Fazlul Haque Milon of Gazipur, Abul Hossain Khan of Barisal, Shamsudduha Khan of Naogaon and MA Mannan of Gazipur, all accused in misappropriating corrugated iron-sheet cases, and another former BNP lawmaker Md Gias Uddin of Narayanganj accused in three cases relating to cheating and embezzlement, were cleared of the charges.
Two former Jamaat lawmakers — Abdus Sobhan of Pabna and Gazi Nazrul Islam of Satkhira, both accused in iron-sheet misappropriation cases, and another former Jamaat lawmaker Abdullah Mohamamd Abu Taher of Comilla, accused in relief wheat embezzlement case, were cleared of the charges.
Agriculture minister Matia Chowdhury, accused in wheat embezzlement case in 2002, Chittagong mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, accused in three cases relating to fund embezzlement, businessman Salman F Rahman, accused in a case for embezzling Tk 191.39 crore of the fund of Arab Bangladesh Bank, were among the Awami League men cleared of the charges.
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