ACC suspends director for 'info leak'

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday suspended one of its directors on allegations of leaking information and holding a secret meeting with an accused.

Director AKM Fazlul Haque took 13 months to look into the allegations of accumulating illegal wealth by an official of the forest department, the ACC said in a press release.

“Fazlul illegally handed over important documents related to the enquiry through an ACC staffer to the accused on January 14,” it read.

ACC Director General (Administration) Mohammad Munir Chowdhury caught the staffer red-handed when the classified document was being handed over in a restaurant yesterday.

He said every official and staff member would have to bear the liability of their work, adding that, “Everyone is under surveillance, so officials will have to work with honesty.”

Contacted, Fazlul denied the allegations.

“They [the ACC] did not bother to seek my explanation. They took a one-sided decision,” he said.

“As a part of the enquiry, I asked the official to submit some necessary documents. When he came, I asked my staffer to collect it from the ground floor. But he went to the canteen to collect it from him [forest department official] instead,” Fazlul explained.

Later, ACC Chairman Iqbal Mahmud told reporters that Fazlul was suspended for his misdeed. “He had recently been promoted [to director], and yet he was not shown mercy,” he said, adding, “Anyone found to be involved in corruption will be suspended.”

In another development, the ACC yesterday transferred its 36 assistant directors and 42 deputy directors to different departments.