MA Salam, president of the Chaugachha upazila BNP, and Gobinda Kumar Raha, convener of the upazila Puja Udjapan Front, have held a press conference calling allegations of a Tk 20 lakh payment over the appointment of a fertiliser dealer false, baseless and defamatory.
Gobinda Kumar Raha read a written statement at the press conference at his office in Kachhabazar in the upazila on the afternoon of Thursday, 15 October. It said the government had recently appointed BCIC fertiliser dealers in Chaugachha’s 11 unions and the municipality, and that fabricated reports about some of the upazila’s 12 new dealerships were being published on Facebook and in some online newspapers, which they claim is defaming them.
The statement said that one of the applicants for the dealership in No 11 Sukhpukuria union was Shyamal Kumar Biswas, owner of Biswas Traders. It has been alleged that MA Salam and Gobinda Kumar Raha took Tk 20 lakh to get him the dealership licence. At the press conference the allegation was called a fabricated and baseless campaign by a “conspiring quarter”.
Setting out MA Salam’s experience in politics and as an elected representative, the statement said no allegation of corruption or irregularity had been made against him. Gobinda Kumar Raha said he has served as an elected member of Chaugachha Union Parishad for 33 years, and said there was no allegation of corruption or irregularity against him either.
The press conference protested against the spreading of false information and asked the administration to intervene to bring out the facts and take legal action against those involved.
Answering a question, MA Salam said: “Those who have made the allegation are the post-5 August BNP. Having got no benefit, they are spreading false information against the party.”
The newly appointed dealer, Shyamal Kumar Biswas, said: “I was not a worker of any particular party; I am mainly a businessman. For business I have had to mix with many people. I made no improper payment to be appointed a dealer; I was appointed through the government’s regular process. One side is spreading false information about me out of jealousy.”
Present at the press conference were Ataur Rahman Lal, a former vice-president of the upazila BNP and chairman of Patibila union; Tariqul Islam Doblu, president of the Narayanpur union BNP; Bolai Chandra Pal, a former principal and president of the upazila Puja Udjapan Parishad; and other local leaders. A human chain was held afterwards by the upazila Puja Udjapan Parishad and Front.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report