TDS Desk:

Md Salauddin Ripon and his wife Miftahul Jannat Luna were awarded the lease on the 32 trains and numerous modifications of contracts were done illegally during the tenure of former Railways Minister Md Mazibul Hoque in 2012-18.

Bangladesh Railway officials involved in the matter alleged that the minister’s then Personal Secretary AKMG Kibria Mojumdar put pressure on top officials to sign the illegal deals by showing up in their offices the day before the agreement dates after taking bribes from Ripon.

They also alleged the ring forced the then railway director generals to issue orders for the chief commercial managers of the BR East and West zones for illegally awarding and modifying the contracts.

With the blessings of Mazibul, the train operators became so arrogant that they even charged passengers at their will.

Many people, who used the trains operated by the couple, said one passenger has to buy two tickets to get a seat on the train.

On 30 August 2022, a team from the Anti-Corruption Commission conducted a drive to monitor the services of four commuter trains: Mahua, Titas, Rajshahi, and Jamalpur.

During the inspection, the team observed that passengers were required to purchase between two and four tickets. Additionally, standing passengers were forced to pay the full fare for one seat. Furthermore, all passengers were paying an extra Tk15-20 more than the advertised fare.

On 16 August 2023, Khalilur Rahman, a Dhaka-based journalist, was beaten at Jamalpur Railway Station for his protest when he was told that it was necessary to buy three tickets for getting a seat on the Jamalpur Commuter train.

Abdur Rashid, another regular passenger, said, “It’s an old practice of Jamalpur Commuter. For getting one seat, one has to buy three tickets.”

The couple participated in all tenders in the names of different companies with the same address, but the then tender evaluation committee did not make them unresponsive.

Thirteen contracts for the 32 trains were signed and their modifications were done between 2012 and 2019. Divisional commercial officers, chief commercial officers and general managers of the East and West zones were involved in the tender evaluation, contract signing and their modifications, according to documents provided by the BR.

This correspondent has obtained papers of at least seven contract modifications signed between 2017 and 2018 by the then Chief Commercial Manager Sardar Shahadat Ali.

Shahadat, who is now BR director general, said he was forced to sign the papers by the then Railways Minister Mazibul and his Private Secretary Kibria.

“Minister’s Personal Secretary Kibria visited the offices of the general managers and forced them to sign the contracts. He used to threaten the chief commercial managers, including me, with dire consequences. The former Director General Amzad Hossain also sent orders for signing the extension deals. So, I had no option but to sign those illegal deals,” he said.

Shahadat said he had proof that then DG Amzad sent a letter ordering modifications to the contracts.

However, Amzad could not be reached for his comments despite repeated calls on the mobile phone.

During the period of modifications of the contracts, Rafiqul Islam also served as the BR director general.

When asked about the letter, which the officials termed illegal, Rafiqul said he could not remember anything about the letter as he retired 10 years ago.

The correspondent could not contact Mazibul, who has been in hiding since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led autocratic government on 5 August in the face of a mass upsurge.

Repeated calls over the mobile phone of Kibria, who is now a joint secretary at the parliament secretariat, also went unanswered.

Meanwhile, Kibria was earlier served a show-cause notice for joining a campaign rally for Awami League-nominated candidate in the last general election Mazibul in Cumilla-11 constituency on 27 December last year.