Four sued in Chuadanga

A case has been filed against four people in connection with substituting iron rods for bamboo sticks in the construction of a government-funded biological research centre in Damurhuda upazila of Chuadanga.

The accused are Moni Shing, managing director of Joy Construction Ltd of Dhaka; Abdus Sattar, managing director of Engineering Consortium Ltd of Dhaka; Ayub Hossain, project consultant on purchase of biological research centre and lab; and Kamal Hossain, sub-assistant engineer on project planning and implementation in ICT of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Dhaka.

Joy Construction Ltd was constructing the two-storey building under the supervision of the Engineering Construction Ltd.

Merina Zebunnahar, acting project official and also senior monitoring and evaluation officer of the DAE in Dhaka, lodged the case with Damurhuda Model Police Station on Monday night.

Lyakat Ali, officer-in-charge of the police station, confirmed it while talking to this correspondent over the phone.

Sub-inspector Kabir Hossain is investigating the case, the OC said.

Meanwhile, three bodies formed to investigate the incident have visited the spot. Of them, a three-member body headed by Soumen Shaha, director of the biological research wing of the DAE in Dhaka, submitted a report to the agriculture ministry on Monday.

Sources said the case was filed based on the report.

The DAE of Chuadanga last year got a fund of Tk 2.41 crore to build the research centre and lab in Darshana of Damurhuda.

So far, 65 percent work has been done. The building was scheduled to be handed over to the DAE in June.

On Thursday, some local youths came to know about some gross anomalies in the work.

Workers were then forced to break a louver only to reveal bamboo sticks, prompting the authorities concerned to stop the work.

The two other committees -- one formed by the district administration and another by the ministry -- are looking into the matter.