Driver Azam might have been victim of secret killing: BNP
Dhaka, Apr 17 (UNB) - Voicing deep concern over the disappearance of driver Ali Azam, a key witness to the midnight railway cash scam, BNP Standing Committee Member Rafiqul Islam Miah on Tuesday feared that the driver has been liquidated to hide the crime.
"Instead of awarding the driver, the government has made him disappeared to cover up its dirty face," he told a human chain programme.
Bangladesh Labour Party arranged the programme in front of the National Press Club, demanding the arrest and trial of the corrupt and looters of public property.
Addressing the function, the BNP leader said people want to know the whereabouts of driver Azam and it is the responsibility of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister to find him out.
He said they fear that Ali Azam, the driver of assistant personal secretary of Railways Minister Suranjit Sengupta who resigned on Monday over the scam, might have become another victim to secret killing.
Rafiqul Islam asked the government to immediately reveal the whereabouts of the driver who drove the vehicle with a huge amount of 'bribed money' into the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Headquarters and brought the railway recruitment scam to light.
"He said the BGB men released the three people caught with Tk 70 lakh of bribed money following the minister's intervention. But, driver Ali Azam went missing after the incident. Where is he? We want to know," Rafiqul Islam asked.
He also questioned the role of the border guards as they did not file any case even after recovering the huge amount of illegal cash.
On April 9, BGB men detained then Railways Minister Suranjit Sengupta's APS Omar Faruq Talukder, Railway GM Yusuf Ali Mridha and Divisional Commandant Enamul Huq after Azam drove a car carrying them into the BGB Headquarters at about 11:30pm.
They were reportedly going to the Jhigatola house of Suranjit with the illegal money of Tk 70 lakh, collected from job seekers, in the car of the APS.
The BGB members recovered the illegal money and kept them detained in Pilkhana.
The BGB men claimed that they released driver Ali Azam and three others the following day, but no one, even his family members, did not see him after the detention.
"Instead of awarding the driver, the government has made him disappeared to cover up its dirty face," he told a human chain programme.
Bangladesh Labour Party arranged the programme in front of the National Press Club, demanding the arrest and trial of the corrupt and looters of public property.
Addressing the function, the BNP leader said people want to know the whereabouts of driver Azam and it is the responsibility of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister to find him out.
He said they fear that Ali Azam, the driver of assistant personal secretary of Railways Minister Suranjit Sengupta who resigned on Monday over the scam, might have become another victim to secret killing.
Rafiqul Islam asked the government to immediately reveal the whereabouts of the driver who drove the vehicle with a huge amount of 'bribed money' into the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Headquarters and brought the railway recruitment scam to light.
"He said the BGB men released the three people caught with Tk 70 lakh of bribed money following the minister's intervention. But, driver Ali Azam went missing after the incident. Where is he? We want to know," Rafiqul Islam asked.
He also questioned the role of the border guards as they did not file any case even after recovering the huge amount of illegal cash.
On April 9, BGB men detained then Railways Minister Suranjit Sengupta's APS Omar Faruq Talukder, Railway GM Yusuf Ali Mridha and Divisional Commandant Enamul Huq after Azam drove a car carrying them into the BGB Headquarters at about 11:30pm.
They were reportedly going to the Jhigatola house of Suranjit with the illegal money of Tk 70 lakh, collected from job seekers, in the car of the APS.
The BGB members recovered the illegal money and kept them detained in Pilkhana.
The BGB men claimed that they released driver Ali Azam and three others the following day, but no one, even his family members, did not see him after the detention.
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