ACC probe clears Soumen

The Anti-Corruption Commission found no wrongdoings by Soumen Sengupta, son of minister Suranjit Sengupta, while investigating how he got Tk 5 crore to obtain an interconnection exchange (ICX) licence from the government.

File Photo

ACC Chairman Golam Rahman said this while talking to The Daily Star over telephone yesterday.

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission issued the ICX licence to Sengupta Telecommunication Ltd on April 12 this year. Soumen is the managing director of the company.

The ACC chairman said the commission decided to exempt Soumen from the allegation of irregularities over the sources of the licence fee as the investigation officer found no irregularities committed by Soumen.

He said the investigation officer found that Soumen and his company had made all bank transactions in a transparent way and following the law.

Sengupta Telecommunication Ltd's authorised capital was Tk 2 crore. Its six partners paid Tk 60,000 each and the rest of the money was borrowed from New Generation Construction Ltd, the ACC chairman said.

The chairman of Sengupta Telecommunication Ltd was the owner of New Generation Construction Ltd, he said, adding that the other partners of the company were information technology experts.

Golam Rahman said the borrowed money was sent to the account of Sengupta Telecommunication Ltd through Jamuna Bank's Gulshan and Dilkusha branches.

The ACC had formed a committee in April to probe how the company gathered the money for the licence fee after a newspaper report raised questions about the funding.

Soumen's father Suranjit received plenty of media attention this year. Members of Border Guard Bangladesh on April 9 had detained then railways minister Suranjit's assistant personal secretary and two top railway officials with Tk 70 lakh in their possession.

They were detained after the driver of the assistant personal secretary drove the microbus carrying them into the BGB headquarters and told the guards there that there was illegal money in the car.

The scandal led to the resignation of Suranjit from the ministry on April 16 but the government kept him in the cabinet as a minister without portfolio.

Related Contents

Suranjit innocent! (Video)

An investigation has found no link of former railways minister Suranjit Sengupta to the last month seizure of Tk 70 lakh.

I do not have any undisclosed income: Soumen

Soumen Sengupta, son of former railway minister Suranjit Sengupta, said that he accumulated his assets including Sengupta Telecom legally.

ACC acts on rly money scam

The Anti-Corruption Commission formed two bodies to dig out the suspected graft behind the huge haul of money from the car of the APS of just-resigned Railways Minister Suranjit Sen-gupta as well as property and source of income of his son.