Tk 25 cr 'misappropriation' by Gas Officials
Warrant against two, 5 get bail
A special tribunal in Sylhet yesterday issued warrant of arrest against two former senior officials of the state-run Rupantorito Prakritik Gas Company Limited (RPGCL) while granted bail for five others in the case for allegedly misappropriating petroleum items worth Tk 25 crore during 2002-2003 to 2006-2007 fiscal years.
Judge of the Special Tribunal-I, Sylhet-Md Mizanur Rahman, also the district and sessions judge, ordered issuing arrest warrant against former managing director of the RPGCL-engineer Abdul Wadud and former deputy manager Jasim Uddin Chowdhury for their non-appearance in the case, said Luthful Kibria Shamim, public prosecutor (PP) of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
The officials who got bail are Md Zahidul Islam, deputy manager, Planning and Development, RPGCL Hq- (the then marketing officer of the fractionation plant), engineer Shuvo Barua manager, CNG workshop, RPGCL, Dhaka, (the then manager and in charge of Kailashtila LPG fractionation plant), Sheikh Md Kamal Uddin, deputy manager, Operations, RPGCL headquarters, (the then deputy manager, production, Fractionation plant), Abdul Khaleque Khan, general manager (Planning and Development) and Khalilur Rahman, deputy manager.
However, RPGCL Managing Director engineer Shafiul Azam appeared before the court and informed that he had obtained bail for four months from the High Court on August 23, the PP said.
The tribunal judge also set the next date of hearing on October 9, he added.
The country's lone fractionation plant of RPGCL produces liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by processing natural gas from Sylhet Gas fields Limited.
The then ACC chairman on July 30 of 2007 ordered the director of Sylhet ACC office for investigation on a written complaint of gross misappropriation against several officials, goes the prosecution.
As preliminary enquiry found the allegations true, ACC Assistant Director in Habiganj Md Abdul Mazed, asked by his higher authorities, filed a specific case with Golapganj police station on March 9 in 2009.
Later, the ACC formed a three-member expert committee that filed a report on April 6 in 2011, detailing incidents of meter tampering and some other irregularities.
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