Allegation of amassing crores of taka’s illegal wealth through bribery and commission trade has been intensified against Sarder Mahabubur Rahman, Deputy Director (Finance) of BRTA’s Administration Wing.
Meanwhile, more than one written complainthas been submitted to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) seeking proper investigation and exemplary punishment against the BRTA officer for his alleged corruptions and irregularities.
According to the complaints, Sarder Mahabubur Rahman joined BRTA headquarters as a cashier on August 19, 1992 at a basic salary of Tk 1200 per month.
Later, he was promoted to Accountant on August 28, 2003 and to Accounting Officer on March 24, 2014.
On September 21, 2023, he was promoted to Deputy Director of the Finance Branch at the Administration Wing of BRTA from Accounting Officer.
Since then, he started applying the influence of ousted Awami League chairperson and former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as a son-in-law of an Awami League leader, who resided in Gopalganj. Despite being a resident at Narail district, Sarder Mahabubur Rahman used to introduce himself as a man of Gopalganj to everyone because of he had married there, officials on condition of anonymity said.
He established an eight-storied building on 6.5 decimal of lands in Block-A of Road No-2 at Dhaka Udyan in Mohammadpur.
He also constructed a flat there in 2021. He has separate flats at 19/C/2 Uttar Tolarbagh in Mirpur of Dhaka and other places ofGopalganj and Narail district. Being a housewife, his wife Rashida Khanam Minni uses a luxary car, which registration number is Dhaka Metro-Ga-31-4323. They are also owners of two more CNG driven auto-rickshaws.
Mahabubur has bought lands at different places including Mianpara and Gopalganj Sadar upazila,andDumuria of Naraildistrict in his own and wife’s name. He has also established a luxury house named Abeda Manzil in Gopalganj Sadar.
Violating the government service rules, he has been running a business establishment named Messrs Mahir Enterprise, which was named according to his son’s name. He pays Tk 70,000 per month as rent against a flat of the Road No-3, 29/B Dhanmondi in Dhaka, where he has been residing.
Many from the accounts department of the BRTA headquarters and BRTA’s vendor companies on condition of anonymitycomplained that, Sarder Mahbubur Rahman uses various methods to realize bribes.
BRTA has four servicing contracts with the vendor institution ‘Computer Network Systems (CNS) Limited’, the bills of which have to pay every month.
The servicesincludeMVTax, BRTA-IS, archiving and the Motor Vehicle Center (VIC) contract.
The Motor Vehicle Center (VIC) contract, MVTax, BRTA-IS and archiving are all aspects of a larger project related to digitizing and managing motor vehicle records in Bangladesh, specifically through the BRTA (Bangladesh Road Transport Authority).
Out of which MVTax’s bill amount is almost highest. MVTax bills are paid to ‘Computer Network Systems (CNS) Limited’ every month for more than Tk 2 crore.
When Sarder Mahbubur Rahman was an accountant, he used to take bribes of over Tk 2 lakh at the rate of 1 percent per month for discounting MVTax bills.
With his promotion as Deputy Director (Finance), his bribe amount increased and doubled, and now he takes bribes at the rate of 2 percent, complainants alleged.
‘Computer Network Systems (CNS) Limited’ submitted a bill of more than Tk 6 crore to MVTax last December, for which CNS was forced to pay a sum of bribe amount atTk 6 lakh. The rest amount of bribe has not yet been paid, various sources claimed.
In addition, CNS Limited has to pay a bribe of 1 percent every month from the MVTax contract bill to the contract (DEX) officerMd. Shahajan Kabir, Assistant Programmer at BRTA Headquarters, the sources said.
Similarly, Sarder Mahabub is alleged to have collected a bribe of Tk 1 lakh for archiving bills, Tk 1 lakh for VICbills and Tk 50,000 for BRTA-IS service bills every month.
BRTA also has a driving license agreement with Madras Printers Private Limited (MSPPL). Sarder Mahabub takes bribe from MSPPL depending on the amount of money at the time of payment of each bill.
Sources claimed that,he took a bribe of about Tk 10 lakh from MSPPL against some bills paid recently. It is alleged that,if the demanded amount is not paid to Sarder Mahabub in time, he delays paying the bills on various pretexts.
It is also known about this official that, if goods are purchased from the open market for the BRTA headquarters, he realizes 15 percent bribe against the bills. If the purchase is made through RFQ, he realizes minimum Tk 20,000 as bribe.
If any goods are purchased through open tender, he realizes a bribe of 5 percent to 6 percent of the purchase price. He takes all the bribe money using the name of AG office.
He also brings the cheques of the vendor companies’ bills from the AG office to himself and those are given to the relevant vendor companies just after completion of the payment (bribe) demanded by him, victims’ said.
On the other hand, BRTA has a driving license agreement with Madras Printers Private Limited (MSPPL).
Sarder Mahabub collects bribes from MSPPL based on the amount of money at the time of payment of each bill.
In addition, if any employee is appointed to the BRTA headquarters and he does not pay a bribe to Sarder Mahabub, his salary is not paid immediately, they anonymously claimed.
Talking to several drivers at the BRTA headquarters, it was learned that, if Sarder Mahabubis not paid a certain part fromthe workers’ overtime bills, he delays paying them overtime money, even deducts it showing various pleas.
Besides, the budget allocation for the expenses of various divisional, metro and circle offices of BRTA is done through the finance branch of the headquarters.
It is alleged that, he allocates more budget to those offices from which he receives money, and less budget is allocated to other offices.
When the BRTA’s Barishal Divisional Director raised the question at the BRTA’s monthly coordination meeting in early 2023, the then BRTA Chairman Nur Mohammad Mazumder reprimanded Sarder Mahabub. There are rumors throughout the office that former Chairman Nur Mohammad Mazumder used to call him as Finance Minister.
The process of setting up BRTA’s own office cum training center and VIC in all the districts of Bangladesh is underway.
In all the districts, where land has been acquired for this purpose so far, there have been allegations of demanding and collecting bribes from the concerned personsto release the land acquiring money. But, no one of the victims dares to open mouth against his misdeeds in fear of harassment, they said.
While contacted over cell phone for his comment in this regard, he disconnected the call saying ‘I am busy’.
