The uproar has started in the upazila administration over the incident of embezzling such a huge amount of money in a short time through check forgery and fraud. He is a typist cum computer operator of Rajnagar Upazila Parishad. He embezzled the check forgery and VAT tax money without depositing it in the government treasury. The matter was discovered during an inspection by former Deputy Commissioner of Moulvibazar, Israil Hossain. Meanwhile, suspicion has arisen because the authorities did not notice the matter despite embezzling such a huge amount of money in a short time.
Many say that many more are involved in this and it is necessary to investigate whether the matter is true. According to relevant sources, Anup Das, a former typist cum computer operator of the upazila, was appointed to Rajnagar after the Upazila Parishad elections in 2009. He was transferred to Baralekha on September 16 in the wake of various allegations. But before being transferred, he had embezzled 1 crore 51 lakh 51 thousand 455 taka through check forgery and fraud in 4 months. On October 28, the newly-outgoing Deputy Commissioner of Moulvibazar Md. Israil Hossain visited Rajnagar Upazila Parishad.
At that time, Anup Das’ fraud was detected when he saw the bank statement in the cash book of the parishad. The Deputy Commissioner asked the Deputy Director of the Local Government Department, Mrs. Shahina Akhter, to investigate the matter. It was seen that Anup Das had embezzled 80 lakh 51 thousand 455 taka from the Upazila Hat-Bazar fund, 40 lakh taka from the Upazila Parishad revenue fund, and 31 lakh taka from the Upazila Parishad development fund. Some of this money was withdrawn in cash in the name of an individual and transferred to his own bank accounts. Meanwhile, many have expressed surprise that even though such a huge amount of money was embezzled in such a short time, the matter went unnoticed. While Anup Das was in Rajnagar Upazila, he used his own power to get his father-in-law’s former member elected as chairman by using fake votes and influence.
His father-in-law is the current chairman of the Union Parishad, Digendra Chandra Sarkar Chanchal UP Chairman, Upper Bagh Union Parishad, Rajnagar. In addition, he used his own influence to transfer his wife, a teacher at a government primary school, to Dever Bazar Government Primary School (Lalbagh) next to his house in Sreemangal, In addition, to deceive the common people, he put up a signboard in front of his luxurious house, which cost him about three crore taka, saying “Responsible to Sonali Bank”, but the manager of the Sonali Bank Sreemangal branch said that there was no loan in the name of this house, only a personal loan of 5 lakh taka. He basically put up such a signboard to throw dust in the eyes of the common people. He built his house in Sreemangal at a cost of about 4 crore taka, including land, which has all the modern facilities including multiple ACs and round-the-clock electricity.
It is known that there are multiple workers for work in the house. A source in the council said that he used to leave some blank spaces in the prescribed check and present the check in front of the UNO.
Once signed, Anup Das would increase the amount of money by putting a number before the amount of money in the check. After his theft in Rajnagar was detected, a search was also conducted in Baralekha Upazila. There, he embezzled 22 lakh taka in the same way. The Upazila Executive Officer’s office is sending the necessary documents in this regard to the Deputy Commissioner’s office.
The investigation by the Local Government Department of Moulvibazar has asked for action in this regard. Anup Das’s mobile phone, which is a fine typist, was found to be switched off when he called it to inquire about this. Moulvibazar Deputy Commissioner Touhiduzzaman Pavel and Rajnagar Upazila Executive Officer (Acting) Fatema Tuz called Johra’s mobile phone to inquire about this, but she did not answer the call.