2 PIO staffers held over corruption

Police yesterday arrested two employees of the Project Implementation Office (PIO) in Narsingdi's Shibpur upazila for allegedly embezzling around Tk 5.278 million through falsified bills under the government's Kabikha (Food for work) and TR (Test Relief) projects.

They were held from their office around 12:30am.

The arrested individuals are Ariful Islam Tuhin, 35, a project assistant at the PIO office, and Ashiq Bhuiyan, 25, a peon hired through outsourcing.

Md Afzal Hossain, officer-in-charge of Shibpur Police Station, said the arrests were conducted in response to a written complaint from the Shibpur Public Information Office.

A total of Tk 5.2 million was collected from the defendants.