Staff Reporter, Dhaka

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed a case against eight people, including former information ministers Hasanul Haque Inu and Hasan Mahmud, over the alleged embezzlement of about Tk 6.65 crore in the name of building a bronze mural of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Bangladesh Betar.

ACC Deputy Assistant Director Md. Mostafizur Rahman filed the case at the commission’s Integrated District Office, Dhaka-1, on Sunday, 18 October. ACC Secretary Md. Saidur Rahman Khan confirmed the case, Prothom Alo reported.

The other accused are former Betar directors-general A.K.M. Nessar Uddin Bhuiyan and Narayan Chandra Shil, former senior engineer Md. Zakir Hossain, sub-station engineer Mohammad Abdur Rahman, former acting secretary and project steering committee chair Md. Nasir Uddin Ahmed, and project director Probal Kanti Das.

The allegations

According to the case statement, a Tk 7 crore Betar project was proposed in January 2018, and the mural was later added to it. The ACC says project rules allowed only essential components to be added, and the mural was not one of them.

A construction contract worth about Tk 5.78 crore was awarded through a tender in January 2020. By 12 June 2024, the contractor had received nine payments totalling Tk 6,64,94,000.

The ACC says its officials inspected Betar’s Agargaon centre during the inquiry and found no trace of the mural. The case was filed under sections 409 and 109 of the Penal Code and section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, alleging abuse of power and collusion that caused a loss of public money.

Response from the accused

The Prothom Alo report did not carry any comment from the accused. [For the editor: keep this sentence only if ACM contacts the accused — “ACM is seeking their comments and will add them if received.” Otherwise delete this bracketed part before publishing.]

Filing a case does not mean the allegations are proven. Guilt can only be determined by a court.

Source: Prothom Alo, 18 October 2026; Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC)