BNP senior leader Moudud Ahmed today demanded resignation of Bangladesh Bank’s Governor Fazle Kabir for the sake of fair investigation into the reported gold scam in the central bank’s vault.

“The government must take the responsibility of the gold scam and the Bangladesh Bank governor should resign for the sake of fair investigation into the scam,” Moudud, a standing committee member of BNP, said.

He came up with the demand while addressing a programme arranged by Bangladesh Ganotantrik Sangskritik Jote marking its eighth founding anniversary at the Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka.

According to a report published in a daily newspaper, there was 963 kilogrammes of gold in the Bangladesh Bank’s vault that has been turned into mixed metals.

The 22 carat gold has also been turned into 18 carat in the vault according to the report, the BNP leader said, terming the incident as disgusting.

Moudud said that fair investigation into the gold scam will not be ensured unless the Bangladesh Bank governor resigns from his post.

Several investigation agencies of the government are claiming that the gold has been turned into mixed metals and the amount of the gold has also come down while the government has denied the allegations, he said.

Moudud also cited the example of the resignation of former BB Governor Dr Atiur Rahman over the cyber heist of around Tk 800 crore from the central bank account with the New York Federal Reserve Bank in 2016.

“Bangladesh central bank has been turned into a bank for gold and money thieves. Plundering will also take place in all other banks if such incidents keep taking place in the central bank,” Moudud said.

He also blamed the government for pushing the country’s banking sector towards a severe setback and alleged that the government-backed businessmen have looted money from different banks in the name of loan.

About the Awami League’s reception programme for PM Sheikh Hasina at the Suhrawardy Udyan today, Moudud said “The meeting will be meaningful if the prime minister comes up with an announcement that the next general election will be held under a non-party caretaker government”.

Calling upon the government to allow BNP for staging a programme at the same venue, Moudud, also a former law minister, said, “Give us space, we will prove our popularity with an overwhelming participation of people by arranging a bigger rally than the AL programme today”.