Obaidul Quader, Bridge Authority officials sued over Karnaphuli Tunnel graft

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Thursday filed a case against former Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader and several former top officials of the Bangladesh Bridge Authority for alleged irregularities and misapplication in the Karnaphuli Tunnel project.

ACC Director General Akhter Hossain announced the case during a press briefing at the commission’s headquarters.

The accused include former Bridge Authority secretary and executive director Khandaker Anwarul Islam, former chief engineer Kabir Ahmed, and former director and permanent member Ali Ullah Ahmed.

According to the ACC, the accused ignored the price fixed by the negotiation committee and, based on foreign experts’ recommendations, unlawfully included a service area, monitoring software, and a tag board in the project.

This misconduct caused the government a financial loss of over Tk 585.29 crore.

Additionally, the ACC alleges violations of the Public Procurement Act (PPA) 2006, citing the appointment of individual consultants at an inflated cost exceeding Tk 585.29 crore.

HKJ