Habilganj Madhabpur Upazila Jubo League Vice-President Helal Mia and Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) Engineer Md. Shah Alam has been accused of embezzling 6 million taka from the sale of government sand at the auction. LGED has confirmed in writing that the engineer did not leave the auction documents with the office when he retired.
According to LGED sources, the local administration seized 100,000 cubic feet of silica sand illegally extracted from the banks of this river in Madhabpur Upazila. The Habiganj Deputy Commissioner approved the auction of that sand on January 3, 2023. On March 9, the then Madhabpur Upazila Engineer (LGED) Md. Shah Alam became the convener of the auction committee. The sand was divided into 3 parts and sold at the auction. Chhatra League leader Messrs. Shanto Enterprises got 9 piles from Bachchu Mia’s house to Yunus Ali’s house in Mohabbatpur, Messrs. Parvez Chowdhury got 10 piles from Mangalpur Mouza, and Jubo League leader Helal Mia got 8 piles from Jinnat Ali’s house to Nizamuddin’s house. Later, Shanto Enterprises and Parvez Chowdhury deposited the auction money with the government treasury and received a work order on May 9. But Helal Mia deposited only 23 lakh taka out of the 83 lakh 12 thousand 500 taka including 15 percent VAT and 10 percent income tax of package no. 66 lakh 50 thousand taka. Without depositing the remaining 60 lakh 12 thousand 500 taka, Helal Mia and Engineer Shah Alam conspired to extract and sell sand for more than the stipulated time and shared the revenue money.
Meanwhile, after a new request for the auction under the Right to Information Act, the current Upazila Engineer Reza Un Nabi stated in writing that the then Upazila Engineer Shah Alam kept the documents in his custody, but when he left, he informed that there were no more documents in the office. Therefore, it was not possible to provide the requested information.
Shah Alam, the convener of the auction committee, has retired after completing his service. When contacted by mobile phone, he said that Helal Mia did not deposit the entire amount in the government treasury, so he was not given a work order. For this, he did not get permission to sell the sand. However, if the sand is sold, the responsibility lies with the upazila administration.
The current Upazila Executive Officer Mohammad Zahid Bin Kasem said that I was not in charge here at the time of the incident. So I am not aware of this. I will look into the matter.
Although attempts were made to contact Jubo League leader Helal Mia’s mobile number several times in this regard, the phone was found to be switched off.
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