Staff Reporter :
Laila Kaniz Lucky, wife of former National Board of Revenue (NBR) official Matiur Rahman and Chairman of Raipura Upazila in Narsingdi, has emerged publicly for the first time nearly two weeks after the controversy surrounding the goat scandal.
Laila Kaniz, who is Matiur Rahman’s first wife and a former president of the NBR Customs, Excise, and VAT Appellate Tribunal, has recently been under scrutiny due to allegations of her husband’s undisclosed wealth, leading to their withdrawal from public view.
She attended two preparatory meetings related to the upcoming HSC examination and the Bangabandhu Gold Cup Football Tournament at the Upazila Parishad office. A large number of her supporters gathered outside the office during these meetings.
After the sessions, Laila Kaniz did not interact with journalists and remained unreachable by phone after the program.
Earlier, Laila Kaniz last appeared at her office on June 13 before disappearing from public view following the goat scandal. Despite efforts to contact her through various channels, she remained inaccessible. Speculations also arose regarding the sources of her wealth along with her husband’s controversies.
Laila Kaniz became the uncontested Raipura Upazila Chairman in 2022 after resigning as an associate professor at Government Titumir College. She currently serves as the relief and social welfare affairs secretary for the district Awami League.
The controversy unfolded after Mushfiqur Rahman Iffat’s Facebook post about purchasing a Tk15 lakh goat for Eid-ul-Azha, where he identified Matiur as his father in some posts. This raised questions about how an official with a basic monthly salary of Tk78,000 in his grade could afford such an expense.
In a television interview, Matiur denied Iffat being his son, claiming he only has two children—a son and a daughter. However, Feni-2 lawmaker Nizam Uddin Hazari later asserted on a television program that Iffat is indeed Matiur’s son from his second marriage.
Throughout his 30-year career, Matiur has faced multiple graft investigations by the Anti-Corruption Commission. He pursued studies at Dhaka University’s Department of Finance and entered civil service in 1994 as an officer in the 11th BCS, according to media reports.