Suspended Sramik league leader sued for graft

Tufan Sarker. File photo

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday filed a case against suspended Sramik League leader Tufan Sarkar, who came to limelight after “raping” a college girl and shaving heads of both the victim and her mother in Bogura. The case against him was filed for amassing wealth of Tk 1.59 crore illegally.

Assistant Director of ACC Aminul Islam filed another case against Tufan's elder brother, Abdul Motin Sarkar, who is former secretary of Bogura's Jubo League, for amassing wealth of Tk 3.09 crore illegally.

Both cases were filed with Bogura Sadar Police Station, said its Officer-in-Charge SM Badiuzzaman.

The ACC had issued a notice upon Motin and Tufan to submit their wealth statement before the commission on March 6 and March 7 of last year. Both of them submitted their wealth statement.

In his wealth statement, Tufan, now in jail, stated that his property, both immovable and moveable, was worth Tk 1.29 crore.

However, in its enquiry, the ACC found Tufan's properties to be worth Tk 1.59 crore, which proved that the information of about Tk 30 lakh was concealed from the statement.

It was also found that he acquired the Tk 1.59 crore illegally as there was no valid document in support of where this amount came from.

On the other hand, in his statement Motin said the value of his immovable and moveable properties was Tk 3.58 crore. But the ACC found the actual value to be Tk 5.8 crore. Motin concealed information of about Tk 2.21 crore.

The ACC found that Motin amassed wealth worth Tk 2.70 crore legally and the rest illegally.

Aminul said they had committed corruption by concealing information about wealth and also by amassing much of it illegally. These are both punishable offences.

“We have not submitted any false information about our wealth, every file regarding our assets was submitted to the ACC. The allegations are not true,” said Motin, who is out on bail in a murder case.

The ACC took the step to enquire into their wealth after Tufan's crimes created a storm in the civil society and media platforms.

On July 17, 2017, Tufan abducted a student from her home, raped her and then asked his party cadres to make sure it was a secret, according to media reports.

In their attempt to silence the victim, they picked up the student and her mother, tortured them for four hours and then shaved their heads, the reports said.

Tufan is now in the Kashimpur jail as an accused in the rape case.