A case has been filed against Union Parishad (UP) Chairman Jasim Uddin Haider and member Shahidul Islam for allegedly embezzling government relief rice allotted to fishermen of Khankhanabad Union in Banshkhali upazila of the district.
On Sunday, MP Mujibur Rahman CIP's personal assistant Mir Md Nazrul Islam filed the case with the Banshkhali court as the plaintiff.
Apart from Chairman Jasim Haider and member Shahid, 10/12 unidentified persons, including government officials, responsible for rice distribution have been made accused in the case. The court took cognizance of the case and ordered CID Chattogram to investigate the matter. This incident has created commotion and excitement in Banshkhali.
The complainant mentioned that the government allotted 56 metric tons of rice at the rate of 56 kg per head for 1,000 fishermen of Khankhanabad Union. On the night of June 11, MP Mujibur Rahman CIP received information from a secret source that out of the 56 tons of rice allocated for the fishermen from the Chanpur food warehouse, some of the rice was illegally sold and diverted elsewhere to embezzle the money instead of being stored in the designated food warehouse of the Union Parishad.
The next day on June 12, the MP arrived at the scene and the labourers hired by the accused were ready to distribute the rice. Beneficiary fishermen were also queuing up to get rice.
At that time, when the MP came and asked the workers and Jasim Uddin Haider how many metric tons of rice they had, they said that they had 56 tons of rice.
When the MP asked the UP chairman to weigh the piled rice, Jasim Haider said, "Go to the second floor and rest. We are weighing.”
In response, MP Mujibur Rahman CIP said, "I will not go. You have to weigh it in my presence.” Seeing the reluctance of Jasim Uddin Haider and Shahidul Islam, they weighed the rice in the presence of the accused, witnesses and the local public. After weighing, it can be seen that there are 40 metric tons of rice in the warehouse of the Union Parishad. The remaining 16 metric tons of rice went missing.
Later, Chairman Jasim Uddin Haider and Shahidul Islam admitted that the rice stocked in the Union Parishad was less than 56 metric tons.
After witnessing the corruption of the chairman, when the local crowd got excited, MP Mujibur Rahman CIP in a short speech immediately assured them of taking legal action against the accused.
