ACC finds allegations against Selim Khan authentic

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has found the allegations of different irregularities brought against Selim Khan, a union parishad chairman of Chandpur and a close ally to the education minister, authentic.

An ACC team, led by assistant director Rafi Md Nazmus Sadat, conducted a drive in Lakshmipur union of Chandpur Sadar upazila recently and investigated the actual scenario.

According to a media release, the ACC team visited the land chosen by the government for establishing Chandpur Science and Technology University and collected documents from the deputy commissioner’s office, district registrar, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), and National River Conservation Commission.

The documents testified the allegations of unplanned extraction of sand in Padma and Meghna rivers in Chandpur area by the UP chairman, causing damage to the environment and loss in government revenue.

The ACC team also discovered a plan to loot government money from the land acquisition process for the proposed university. They will submit a detailed report to the commission soon.

Most of the land chosen by the government to establish the science and technology university is owned by Selim Khan and his relatives. He is a familiar face in the area as a close ally to education minister Dipu Moni.

An investigation carried out by the district administration had earlier revealed that the land had been bought at a price 20 times higher than the actual price during the land acquisition process. An additional amount of Tk 359 crore was taken from the government in this regard.

The Daily Prothom Alo disclosed the corruption in a report, “Web of corruption of minister's men” on 27 January.

It was learnt that Selim Khan has been extracting sand from Padma and Meghna rivers for the last eight years, disobeying the government law.

There are allegations that such unplanned sand extraction has been causing irreparable damage to the environment and biodiversity and the government is losing huge amounts of revenue.

Prothom Alo carried a separate report on his illegal activities on 2 March.

Responding to a writ petition on Monday, a chamber court stayed the High Court verdict which was delivered four years ago, allowing Selim Khan to extract sand.