ACC investigator ‘took bribe from DIG Mizan’

A deputy inspector general of police under an investigation on charge of accumulating wealth through illegal activity claimed to have paid a hefty bribe to an Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) official.

Mizanur Rahman – known as DIG Mizan since January last year when allegations arose that he forcibly married and tortured a woman – has said the ACC official took Tk 40 lakh with a promise to exonerate him of all charges.  

ACC Director Khandaker Enamul Basir, who is leading the investigation, however denied the allegation.

Mizan had allegedly picked up a female news presenter of a private television channel at gunpoint in December of the same year.

He also faces allegation of issuing threats to journalists of two different media outlets while speaking to a television presenter over phone.

The graft-watchdog began the probe in May last year, months after his withdrawn from his post of additional commissioner at Dhaka Metropolitan Police.  

Bribery is a punishable offense. If the allegations proved, both will have to face lawsuits and suspension.

The duo had multiple conversations since the inquiry began six months ago.

Enamul informed the DIG he had submitted the report with recommendation of taking legal action against him.

The investigator further said he could not exonerate him due to pressure from the commissioners and chairman of the ACC.

Furious with Enamul, Mizan then disclosed all information regarding the bribery. He produced a number of audio records of their conversations. A private television channel on Sunday broadcast a news report in this regard.

Contacted from different media houses on Sunday, Enamul termed the audio records “made-up”.  

“I didn’t receive money from anyone,” he claimed, saying he has submitted the report last month with recommendation to file a case against DIG Mizan.  

Speaking to media outlets, Mizanur said the ACC official phoned him in January this year and asked for his salary statement.

He claimed Enamul had asked him to call on his personal number as conversations on his official number is recorded.

He then, the police official claimed, bought Enamul a cell phone and a SIM card (subscriber identification module) for speaking to him exclusively.

Mizan alleged that the ACC official met him at Ramna Park around January 10 and demanded Tk 50 lakh for exonerating him of all charges.

“I gave him Tk 25 lakh on January 15 and Tk 15 lakh a week later,” he added.

Regarding the source of the money, the police official claimed to have borrowed Tk 10 lakh from one of his in-laws and provided the rest from his savings.

The DIG said Enamul went to his wife’s shop at Police Plaza on May 30 and had a heated debate with him for his not exonerating him of the charges.

Enamul, however, termed the allegation baseless and said: “I went to the shop to enquire into his wife’s wealth.”

The graft watchdog, meanwhile, has set up a probe committee to unearth facts.

Following media reports on his illegal earnings, the ACC in April last year interrogated DIG Mizan for more than seven hours.