A total of 5.48 lakh metric tonne coal from Boropukuria coal mine were misappropriated throughout 15 years until July 2018, the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) has claimed.

CAB voluntarily started looking into an allegation raised by the Boropukuria Coal Mining Co Ltd (BCMCL) that 1.44 lakh metric tonne coal were stolen.

BCMCL had initially accused 19 people over misappropriation of 1.44 lakh metric tonnes but CAB has claimed that the amount is no less than 5.48 lakh metric tonnes.

The probe committee led by Syed Abul Maksud, president of the association, disclosed its findings at Dhaka Reporter's Unity today.

North Bengal frequently faced power cuts as the Boropukuria coal mine authorities sold coal in open market ignoring embargo, the committee said.

"Confusion is often created by giving misinformation to the stakeholders that enough coal is in stock for power generation," Syed Abul Maksud said while presenting the "irregularities" in 27 points.

No committee was ever formed to address "system loss" or for "verification of the physical stock of coal" -- paving way for theft, he said at the press briefing.

The permissible level of moisture in coal should be fixed at 2.3 percent instead of 5.1, committee members said while reading out its recommendations.