ACC to sue Hasina in bridge toll scam

Staff Reporter:

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is set to file a case against ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and 16 others on charges of irregularities, abuse of power, and embezzlement in the Meghna-Gomti bridge toll collection project.

ACC Deputy Director Aktarul Islam confirmed the development to media on Sunday.

The accused include former ministers Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed, Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain, Obaidul Quader, Anisul Haque, and MA Mannan, along with former secretaries, senior engineers of the Roads and Highways Department, and CNS Ltd Managing Director Munir Uz Zaman Chowdhury and two directors, Selina Chowdhury and Ikram Iqbal.

According to the ACC’s investigation, the accused colluded to misuse government authority for personal and institutional benefit, resulting in significant financial losses to the state.

The probe found that in 2016, Computer Network Systems Limited (CNS Ltd) was awarded a five-year toll collection contract through direct procurement, bypassing tender procedures and ignoring government rules. Previous tenders were arbitrarily cancelled, and CNS Ltd obtained the deal without competition.

Instead of a fixed payment, the company was allowed to retain 17.75percent of the total toll collection as a service charge — a clear violation of procurement regulations.

Over five years, CNS Ltd collected Tk489.44 crore, whereas the same work cost only Tk15.58 crore between 2010 and 2015 under MBEL-ATT.

By contrast, in 2022, UDC Construction Ltd was awarded a similar contract for three years at Tk67.54 crore — equivalent to about Tk112 crore over five years — highlighting the inflated costs under the CNS deal.

CNS Ltd also claimed to have invested Tk67.43 crore in new technology and infrastructure, but the ACC found no verifiable evidence of such expenditure.

The anti-graft body’s report estimates that the government suffered a loss of Tk309.43 crore due to the irregular contract, which investigators have described as a deliberate act of corruption involving high-level collusion.