Rangamati, 18 May (V7N)- The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has received a complaint alleging irregularities in a tender process worth approximately Tk 21 crore for the construction of a student hostel at Rangamati University of Science and Technology. The complaint accuses Md. Ali Imam, Superintending Engineer of the Education Engineering Department (EED) Chittagong Circle, and Mr. Bijak Chakma, the then Executive Engineer of EED, Rangamati (identified in later search results as Md. Asifur Rahaman), of colluding to make a contracting company non-responsive and attempting to award the tender to another company through misuse of electronic technology. Zahid Kalam, Deputy Director of the ACC's Integrated Office in Rangamati, confirmed the receipt of the complaint.

The complainant's charge sheet, dated 29/04/2025, alleges that the aforementioned engineers abused their power to illegally disqualify their organization (Tender ID Nos. 1053887 and 1053888) by falsely claiming that work from another contracting organization was being carried out under their name.

According to the complaint, the complainant participated in the tenders called by the EED, Rangamati District, on 18/12/2024 and submitted bids at 10% lower than the estimated cost. Three contractors in total submitted bids at this reduced rate for both tenders. During the initial evaluation, Md. Ali Imam and Mr. Bijak Chakma allegedly proposed adding and illegally showing low tender capacity, leading to the complainant's organization being deemed non-responsive and excluded from the tender evaluation process.

The complaint further details that after the Chief Engineer of EED, Dhaka, ordered a re-evaluation of the e-Government Procurement (EGP) process, the two accused engineers allegedly devised a new plan to exclude the complainant. Unable to find a legal justification, they allegedly made the complainant non-responsive by falsely attributing ongoing work of another contracting organization (Tender IDs: 668787, 133964) to the complainant's company.

The charge sheet also asserts that Superintending Engineer Md. Ali Imam and Executive Engineer Mr. Bijak Chakma are abusing their authority illegally and attempting to award the two mentioned contracts to the same contractor (Shubhankar-QC) for their own "nefarious ends."

Reportedly, the concerned complainants had already lodged a complaint with the procurement authority regarding these alleged irregularities. Sources indicate that a hearing to ascertain the primary validity of the complaint has been scheduled for May 21st.

Prior to this, on May 9th, Syed Mamunul Alam, Additional Secretary (Planning) of the Secondary and Higher Education Division, along with Md. Ali Imam and Md. Shahjahan Ali (Executive Engineer of EED, Chittagong, which appears to be an incorrect designation based on search results), conducted a tour of the "Establishment of Rangamati Science and Technology University (2nd Revised)" project.

Sources suggest that despite the ACC being informed, the construction work for the male and female hostels was hurriedly approved on May 9th.

Latest information indicates that the construction work of the student hostel at Rabipur University has been halted following the filing of the e-procurement complaint, pending a review of all documents. The hearing for this complaint is scheduled for the 21st.

Confirming the receipt of the complaint via WhatsApp, Mr. Zahid Kalam of the Rangamati ACC Integrated Office stated, "We have sent the complaint to Dhaka; if permission is received, an investigation will be conducted in this regard."

Earlier attempts to contact Syed Mamunul Alam regarding the complaint were unsuccessful, with him stating he had not received any such complaint. Similarly, there was no response from Md. Ali Imam. While contacted, the then Executive Engineer of EED, Rangamati, Mr. Bijak Chakma (later identified as Md. Asifur Rahaman based on search results for the current Executive Engineer), repeatedly claimed to be busy and did not respond to subsequent messages.

Meanwhile, several anonymous contractors and office sources with past experience at the Rangamati Department of Education and Engineering alleged that almost all material certificates for development projects implemented by the department in the last decade are known to be fraudulent. They claimed that by forging the letterhead of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) and the signatures of relevant authorities, contractors obtained these certificates through a specific individual, submitted them to the Rangamati EED, and received payments with the cooperation of the authorities. This practice allegedly results in significant revenue loss for the government and raises serious questions about the quality of the completed works.

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