It's Sengupta telecoms
Regulator gives Suranjit's son lucrative interconnections licence
Rail Minister Suranjit Sengupta's son Soumen Sengupta was awarded a Tk 5-crore telecommunication gateway licence yesterday, just two days after the railwaygate scandal involving the minister's close aide and two top railway officials.
Soumen, who worked at internet service provider Agni Systems Ltd six months ago, had to pay the telecom regulator Tk 5 crore in licence fees. The amount was paid between March 2 and April 2.Prior to his joining at Agni Systems, Soumen worked for Nextgen Networks, an IT firm, from March 2010 to May 2011, according to his profile on social networking site LinkedIn.
"He [Soumen] withdrew around Tk 50,000 a month in salaries from Agni Systems," a director of the firm told The Daily Star, wishing anonymity.
According to Suranjit's wealth statement submitted to the Election Commission before the 2008 election, his annual income amounted to Tk 7 lakh, whose sources were house rent, fisheries and farm land.
Suranjit became railway minister in December last year. Before that he was the chief of the parliamentary standing committee on law, justice and parliamentary affairs ministry.A seven-time parliamentarian, he is currently under fire following the recovery of Tk 70 lakh from the microbus of his Assistant Personal Secretary Omar Faruq Talukder on Monday night.
BGB members seized the money and detained Faruq, his driver Ali Azam, Railway General Manager (East) Yusuf Ali Mridha and railway's security officer Enamul Huq after the driver drove the microbus into BGB's Pilkhana headquarters in the capital.
At one stage, Azam started shouting that there were stashes of illegal money in the vehicle, prompting the BGB men to detain them and seize the money.A number of intelligence officials told The Daily Star on Wednesday that the microbus was actually on its way to Suranjit's Jigatola residence, a claim refuted by the minister.
The minister came to the spotlight again yesterday after Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) awarded his son's company, Sengupta Telecommunication Limited, an interconnection exchange licence.BTRC Chairman Zia Ahmed said Soumen himself collected the licence and that all the due process was followed in awarding the licence. Of the 22 licences awarded, 21 were handed over yesterday, he added.
A telecom expert said setting up a telecommunication company requires an investment of Tk 30 crore at least. Despite repeated attempts, Soumen could not be reached for comments on the source of the money he paid in licence fees.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=230104
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