RANGPUR — A Kurigram man says a deputy director at the Rangpur regional office of the directorate of secondary and higher education agreed to take 15 lakh taka to include teachers and staff of his school in the MPO scheme, then had him arrested when he brought less than the agreed amount.
Maidul Islam made the allegations at a news conference at the Sumi Community Center in Rangpur on the afternoon of Monday, March 16. He said the deputy director, Roksana Begum, called in the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and police because she was angry he had not brought the full amount.
Police had detained Maidul at the regional education office in the Kachari Bazar area of Rangpur on Feb. 16 with money described as a bribe, and took him to a police station. He spent 18 days in jail before being released on bail.
At the news conference, Maidul said his father, Abdus Sabur Khan, had donated one acre of land on which Kazaikata High School was established. He said he had been trying for a long time to get seven teachers and staff included in the MPO scheme through the regional education office. He eventually came into contact with Roksana Begum, the deputy director.
Maidul said that in December, on the stairs of the office, Roksana Begum demanded 6 lakh taka per teacher and 3 lakh taka per staff member. A deal was later agreed for 15 lakh taka in total for one teacher and three staff members.
Maidul said he gathered the money and, on the morning of Feb. 16, brought 7 lakh taka in a gift packet to her office as instructed, with another 1 lakh taka in his bank account. Around noon, Roksana Begum called him to her office and asked how much he had brought, and he said 8 lakh taka.
After learning that, Roksana Begum immediately telephoned her husband, Jahedul Islam, and told him Maidul had brought 8 lakh taka, Maidul said. After speaking with her husband, she grew agitated and called in office driver Shafiqul Islam, computer operator Ashraf Ali and several other staff members, who forcibly took the money out of his bag, he said.
Maidul alleged that Roksana Begum then threatened him, saying, “I will finish off your school.” He said he was later pressured and intimidated into admitting to giving a bribe.
On the day of the incident, Roksana Begum told reporters she did not know Maidul Islam, although she said he had come to see her once before.
Maidul said he had visited her office five or six times before and had exchanged messages with her on WhatsApp. The truth would emerge, he said, if investigators checked the office CCTV footage and the mobile phones of Roksana Begum, Ashraf and Shafiqul.
Asked about the allegations, Roksana Begum told Kalbela that Maidul was now making various accusations to save himself. “The ACC has filed a case in this incident. The case is under investigation, and whatever it finds will stand. What more should I say now?” she said.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report