TDS Desk:

An Indian construction firm has lodged a complaint alleging theft of construction materials worth approximately Tk 6.2 crore from the Ashuganj river port to Akhaura-Agartala land port four-lane highway project in Brahmanbaria.

The project, a key cross-border connectivity initiative under India’s Line of Credit (LoC-2), is jointly funded by the governments of India and Bangladesh.

Sudhir Kumar, head of administration and human resources for AFCONS Infrastructure Ltd, filed the case with Brahmanbaria Sadar Model Police Station on behalf of the company on Sunday, accusing unidentified individuals, said Md Mozzafor Hossain, officer-in-charge of the police station.

“This is the fourth theft case filed by the Indian firm in connection with the matter,” he added.

Sudhir said that as the law enforcers could not take any action over the cases filed after the July uprising, the company was compelled to file a case in this connection again.

He added that although police had not registered the previous complaints as formal cases, an FIR was filed this time.

In the most recent complaint, AFCONS claimed materials worth Tk 6,20,42,540 were stolen.

According to the case statement, the thefts occurred between August 5 and 12 from 14 different sites, including the project office in the Ramrail area of Brahmanbaria Sadar upazila.

During this period, Indian staff returned home amid July-August mass uprising, and many Bangladeshi workers also left the sites.

Taking advantage of the vacant sites, unknown miscreants reportedly used vehicles to loot large quantities of materials worth Tk 2.08 crore, minor assets valued at Tk 43.74 lakh, consumables worth Tk 2.08 crore, and reinforcement materials estimated at Tk 1.39 crore.

The alleged thefts took place in several locations, including Khatihata, Nandanpur, Suhilpur, Ghatura, Birasar, Poirtola, Puniout, Nayanpur, Ramrail Bazar, the Ramrail project camp, Radhika, Sultanpur, and the Titas Bridge area in Ujanisar, according to case statement.

“Authorities are actively looking into the matter and working to verify the list of goods brought in by the Indian contractor and the alleged stolen items,” said Ehteshamul Haque, superintendent of Brahmanbaria police.

According to the Roads and Highways Department, the 51-kilometre four-lane highway project was approved in 2017. Following a revision, the total cost rose to Tk 5,791 crore—of which Tk 2,982 crore is financed through India’s soft loan assistance (LoC-2), and Tk 2,809 crore is provided by the Bangladesh government.