Powerful quarter renders the state ineffective

A media report has said the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is yet to complete the investigation into the ‘pillow’ case involving corruption of over Tk 25 crore in the supply of furniture to Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) flats. Meanwhile over 15 accused in the case have got bail from the lower court although the High Court rejected such a plea on October 19 last year giving the ACC six months more to complete the probe.
What is noticeable is that the ACC has blamed its failure to complete the investigation over a period of one and a half years on the coronavirus pandemic while the special court judge in Pabna has mentioned in granting the bail ACC’s failure to complete the investigation in time. It seems to be common ground on both sides to escape responsibility while the state has been rendered helpless to put the offenders on trial. Criminals are misusing loopholes everywhere.
The charges in the case include imaginary cost in government purchase including the cost of a pillow at Tk 5,957, per pillow carried to upper floors Tk 760, an electric stove cost Tk 7,747 and so on. We fear that the ACC is failing to prove as some powerful quarters might be at work to protect the offenders.
The New Nation reported on Friday on the latest bail cases in the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant scam. Another front page report cited a commerce ministry request to ACC to open a probe against online e-commerce platform Evaly on charges of financial crimes. The charges include embezzlement of huge money it received in advance from customers and cheating of merchant organizations for not repaying for products. We can’t understand how Evaly was able to unlock its bank accounts which the commerce ministry had seized earlier this year. We wonder if ACC will similarly fail again.
Evaly’s present asset value is just over Tk 65.17 crore while it should have at least Tk 403.0 crore in assets. The remaining money has disappeared. Over the past years two similar multi-layers businesses – Destiny and Jubok – had laundered several thousand crore taka and disappeared and yet Evaly emerged. Certain Destiny bosses are lavishly living in jail and hospitals and people at high places are allowing offenders to escape justice. They are rendering the state ineffective.