Tenders looted at Bangladesh Betar's transmission station in Savar 

A group of 30-40 unidentified individuals forcibly entered Bangladesh Betar's office in Savar today (19 January), vandalised the tender box and looted at least 6-7 submitted tender schedules  during an ongoing auction process.

The incident took place at around 10:30am at High Power Transmitting Station-1, a key point installation (KPI) facility,  located in the Radio Colony area of Savar.

The group also damaged a portrait of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which was hanging in the office of the station's Resident Engineer Md Mainul Haque.

According to the pre-arranged schedule, interested parties had started submitting their bids in the designated tender box, Mainul told a journalist who visited the station immediately after the incident.

Mainul said they had instructed that each bidder, upon presenting a money receipt, would be allowed to enter the premises to submit their bids.

However, shortly after 10am, a group of 30-40 individuals forcibly entered the station. Initially, they confronted Mainul in his office, pressuring him to cancel the bids. 

Upon noticing the portrait of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the office, the group became further agitated and proceeded to tear it down, damaging it. 

They then took the tender box and, after breaking it open, seized all the bid documents before leaving the premises, said Mainul, adding that the identities of the individuals involved remain unclear.

As a KPI-classified facility, the station is regularly staffed with police personnel for security purposes. 

Jewel Mia, officer-in-charge (OC) of Savar model police station, told The Business Standard that no formal complaint had been filed regarding the incident. 

"No one from the relevant departments has reported anything to us," he said. 

According to sources, the centre had been conducting an auction for the sale of old, unused materials stored in four different warehouses. 

Interested buyers, including local firms, were invited to submit sealed quotations, with the deadline for submission set for the morning of 19 January.

Md Mirazul Islam, police sub-inspector responsible for the station's security, told The Business Standard that he had been stationed at the facility's gate, along with his force, as per the instructions from the authorities.

"I was checking the list of bidders and allowing access based on their credentials," he explained. "However, I noticed that a group of individuals entered separately and left in an agitated state. When I went inside, I found the tender box had been broken."

Despite the agreement for police backup from the Savar model police station, the incident occurred before additional forces arrived. "I was alone with just four constables," he added.

Sources said that approximately 200 auction schedules, each worth Tk1,000, were sold as part of the auction process.