Special Article

Power sector during BNP-Jamaat tenure: Ministers blamed each other for graft, Tarique was at the centre of corruption in name of setting up electric poles

Power generation in Bangladesh declined to a great extent due to massive corruption in the five years since the BNP-Jamaat coalition came to power in 2001. The countrymen were fed up with 16 to 18 hours of load shedding every day. At one point, Iqbal Hasan Mahmud, State Minister for Power, was removed from office due to corruption. The new state...

From 2001 to 2006: Tarique divided areas of Dhaka city among top terrorists to control from Hawa Bhaban

Soon after the formation of the government on October 20, 2001, the BNP-Jamaat government started releasing the country's top terrorists who were imprisoned. According to the direct orders of Tarique Rahman, all the serial killers including Tokai Safar were released. BNP leaders then used them to take tenders and grab land across the country. Un...

Khaleda's regime 2001-2006: Koko owned thousands of crores of money just by commission trading

After coming to power in 2001, Arafat Rahman Koko, the younger son of then Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, used to regularly receive a percentage from all major government contracts and tenders in the country till 2006. This son of Ziaur Rahman used to pressure his mother to give the projects to the preferred company as per the demand. After the car...

From 2001 to 2006: Hawa Bhaban syndicate forced banks to give loans for embezzling thousands of crores of money

During the BNP-Jamaat regime, the Hawa Bhaban office of Tarique Rahman misappropriated bank money in name of taking loans in a very well-planned way. Approximately Tk 400 crore were embezzled from the Ramna and Narayanganj branches of Sonali Bank as loans. Thousands of crores of money were stolen from the bank using the names of various companie...

BNP's regime 2001-2006: Unbridled corruption and reckless coercion-terror by Mirza Abbas

During the last days of the BNP-Jamaat coalition government, Public Works Affairs Minister Mirza Abbas illegally leased two acres of railway land, worth Tk 51 crores then, to an unnamed and fake association without tendering. This BNP leader, who is close to Tarique Rahman, completed the entire process in just 14 days on instructions from Hawa B...