Rooppur pillow scam: contractor released on bail
On December 13 last year, ACC filed four separate cases against 13 people for embezzling Tk31.24 crore
A court in Pabna has granted bail to Shahadat Hossain, the contractor of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project, in a case filed over corruption in purchasing furniture and household items for officials of the project.
Pabna District and Sessions Judge Mokbul Ahsan granted him bail on Thursday morning.
Shahadat Hossain is the proprietor of Sajin Construction Ltd.
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Moazzem Hossain, deputy director of the ACC's Pabna integrated district office, confirmed the matter, but added that he has not yet received the bail documents.
"Shahadat Hossain had been in jail since the case was filed last year. He applied for bail in the High Court several times, but the court rejected the bail pleas," he said.
Sources from the ACC said, Pabna District and Sessions Judge Mokbul Ahsan granted bail after examining the case documents on Thursday.
Obaidul Haque and Zahid Rana represented the ACC, while Sanat Kumar Sarker and Sahabuddin Sabuj stood for the plaintiff in court.
According to the ACC statement, out of the pillows purchased for the two buildings of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project, the cost for one pillow was shown at Tk6,717.
The breakdown of the price shows that the pillow costs Tk5,957, and the cost of lifting the pillow to the flat was shown as Tk760.
On December 13 last year, the ACC filed four separate cases against 13 people on charges of corruption and irregularities for embezzling Tk31.24 crore in the purchase of furniture and other items at unusually high prices for a building in Rooppur.
ACC deputy director Nasir Uddin and deputy assistant director Shahjahan Miraj filed the cases at the ACC's integrated district office in Pabna.
The Pabna ACC officials said that Shahadat has been named in two of the cases.
Immediately after the case filing, 13 accused were arrested from the Segunbagicha area in the capital and were sent to jail.
ACC lawyer Obaidul Haque, who was present at court during the bail hearing, said, "As soon as the court granted bail, we applied for a certified copy. Once we get the copy, we will send it to the ACC Dhaka office. We will follow the instructions that come from there."
Umme Salma, jailer of Kashimpur Jail Part-1, said, Shahadat ─ managing director of Sajin Construction Ltd ─ has been in the jail for the past six months in two cases against him.
A Pabna court granted him bail in the latest case on Thursday last. He was released on bail at around 5:30 pm the same day after the court granted him bail in two cases, she said.
