Gold scam in BB vault a sign of govt’s plundering: BNP

BNP Standing Committee Member Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain today strongly condemned the government for the reported gold scam in the Bangladesh Bank’s vault saying it is another sign of plundering by the government.

Referring to a newspaper report, Mosharraf said there was 963 kilogrammes of gold in the Bangladesh Bank’s vault that has been turned into mixed metals.

The 22 carat gold has also been turned into 18 carat in the vault, the BNP leader said, terming the incident as disgusting.

“We will have to be held accountable to the people if we fail to ensure justice in such incident,” Mosharraf said while addressing a programme at the Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka.

National Board of Revenue (NBR) sent a letter to the Bangladesh Bank on January 25 but the government did not take any initiatives in this connection, he alleged.

Citing that huge amount of money has also been stolen from the central bank earlier, the BNP leader said that according to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the government of Bangladesh is involved in the Bangladesh Bank heist and thus no investigation report in this connection has yet been published in the country.

“These are the disgusting signs of plundering in the country by an autocratic government. We strongly condemn it,” Mosharraf said.

Criticising the management of the bank, Mosharraf also said his party will be waiting to see what sort of measures the bank authorities will take over the issue.

EC helping in vote rigging

Citing several irregularities in the recently held local body elections, Mosharraf alleged that Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda helped the ruling party men in vote rigging during the polls.

Awami League has snatched people’s independent voting rights using the administration while the Election Commission has extended its assistance, he alleged.

“The upcoming general election cannot be held in a free and fair manner under the current Election Commission and it is our last word in this regard,” Mosharraf, also a former minister, said.

The ruling quarter is planning to stage another January 5, 2014 like election in the country keeping BNP out of the election process, he said.

Claiming that an autocratic ruler does not want to leave state power unless it is forced to do so in the face of movement, Mosharraf said, “We will have to forge a national unity to topple the ruling Awami League.”