Some 140 non-governmental organization (NGO) employees of Benapole Customs House, who were facing serious allegations of being millionaires without salary, driving expensive cars and building luxurious houses, have been removed at once. They were accused of extorting money from traders and creating a paradise for corruption.
The new commissioner of Benapole Customs House, Khaled Mohammad Abu Hossain, took this strict step soon after joining, which has received a huge positive response from port users and C&F agent traders.
C&F agent traders had long complained that these 'NGO' employees were present in every important branch of the Customs House, from the Commissioner's office to the Customs and Inspection Group. Despite not being government employees, they used to influence the activities of the Customs and severely disrupted the import-export trade. It is alleged that they have become the owners of crores of taka in a short time by helping some unscrupulous customs officials in their immoral activities and intimidating traders.
Traders say that these NGO workers have a huge amount of illegal assets. If the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) investigates, a horrifying picture of their corruption will come out.
In this regard, Mofizur Rahman Swajan, former president of the Benapole Customs C&F Agents Association, said, "For a long time, we have been demanding the removal of these NGO workers on behalf of the association. But the then officials did not pay attention to our demands. They were involved in various misdeeds including extorting money by intimidating C&F agents. Mainly because of them, there was a stagnation in the import-export trade."
Expressing relief at this step of the new commissioner, traders hope that after this removal, transparency will return to customs operations and port work will speed up. At the same time, they have sought the intervention of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to investigate the source of the accused's illegal wealth.
