Staff Correspondent

Mahfuzur Rahman, the corrupt assistant of the sub-registry office of Sandwip, has built a mountain of wealth.

ACC filed a case against him. Despite that, he returned to office on September 25. However, accused Mahfuz said that he tried to get interim bail from the High Court.

According to ACC sources, the case was filed on September 2 by Deputy Assistant Director of Integrated District Office Chittagong-2. Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury. His wife Diluara Mahfuz (42) was also accused along with Mahfuz. His village home is in North Deyang Mohammadnagar village of Patia police station in Chittagong.

It is mentioned in the statement of the case, the information of acquisition of illegal wealth of Tk 1 crore 7 lakh 2 thousand 746 of Mahfuz couple has been found. Besides, they have hidden the information of assets worth Tk 3 lakh 79 thousand 21 in the asset statement submitted to ACC. The case has been charged under Section 26(2), 27(1) of the ACC Act and Section 109 of the Penal Code.

According to the ACC, the investigating officer found the truth of the allegations of illegal acquisition of wealth against Mahfuzur Rahman and his wife after investigating a complaint submitted to the ACC in 2022.

Then Diluara Mahfuz submitted the assets statement to ACC on April 16, 2023 on the instructions of the commission. After verifying his asset statement, ACC found the fact of giving false information and hiding the information of acquired assets. It is mentioned in the case that her husband Mahfuzur Rahman helped Diluara Mahfuz to acquire these illegal assets.

Atiqul Alam, Deputy Director of ACC Coordinated District Office Chittagong-2, confirmed the matter of the case.

Regarding the complaint, Mahfuzur Rahman, accused in the ACC case, told this reporter that the ACC had investigated in the context of an anonymous complaint.

Assets were bequeathed to my wife but the ACC officials did not want to understand that. They filed a case against us. We are in the process of seeking bail from the High Court. We will also deal with the case through the legal process.

In this regard, Sandwip Upazila Sub-Registrar (part-time) Ismail Hossain said, Mahfuz is working regularly in my office. On Wednesday, he also came to office. He did not inform me that he was accused in the case. Besides, we were not informed by the ACC.

Experts believe that the employee obtained the money through corruption and is now enjoying it safely. Allowing this enjoyment is also a kind of crime. ACC should have asked him to arrest him from work and seize his assets.

When a case is filed against someone, it means that prima facie evidence of corruption has been found against him. In this case the investigating officer concerned should have arrested him or the accused public servant should have been granted bail. It is illegal to allow a fugitive accused in a corruption case to work in government office. Besides, he will indulge in more corruption now.