Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Secretary Khorsheda Yasmin said that there is no pressure from outside to influence the investigation of the assets of former Inspector General of Police Benazir Ahmed and newly ex-officer of National Board of Revenue (NBR) Matiur Rahman, who were discussed in the goat scandal, for acquiring illegal wealth.

She said these things while talking to the media on Monday (June 24) afternoon.

Regarding the external pressure and influence in the investigation of corruption of high-ranking officials in the government, the ACC secretary said, you know that the Anti-Corruption Commission is an independent body, there is no pressure coming from any side in these matters. The two laws and rules that I am referring to, there are some other related laws, in the light of which our legal process is going on. There will be no exception or disruption to the activities in other cases.

ACC Secretary Khorsheda Yasmin said that the personal hearing date of former Inspector General of Police Benazir Ahmed's wife and two daughters was today (Monday). But they did not appear today. He did not apply to extend the date. But they gave a written statement where they described their position on the complaint. This application came last Thursday along with Benazir Ahmed's application.

According to the ACC secretary, the relevant investigation officers will take further action according to ACC law and ACC rules after verifying the application made by Benazir's wife Jisan Mirza and her two daughters.

Asked what kind of legal action could be taken against them, she said, the Commission will take a post-commission decision after the inquiry officers submit their report. Further action will be taken based on the recommendations of the officials in the report and according to other legal processes.

ACC Secretary Khorsheda Yasmin said that the investigation against Motiur Rahman, who was discussed in the goat scandal, has already started. The investigating officer applied to the court to ban Motiur's foreign travel. Motiur has been banned from traveling abroad by the court. Matiur, his wife Laila Kaniz and their son Ahmed Taufiqur Rahman Arnab have been banned from traveling abroad.

However, it has been found that, like former Inspector General of Police Benazir Ahmed, Matiur Rahman also left the country through an influential syndicate.

On condition of anonymity, several customs officials close to him said that Matiur escaped through Akhaura land port on Sunday (June 23) afternoon. 

During the 10 months from July 2023 to April this year, foreign nationals living in Bangladesh took 130.58 million US dollars from their income to their respective countries.

Finance Minister Abul Hasan Mahmud Ali gave this information in response to a written question of Faridpur-3 Constituent Member of Parliament Abdul Quader Azad in the 2024-25 budget session of the Jatiya Sangsad on Monday (June 24).

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury presided over the session.

The finance minister said that the annual income information of foreign nationals living in Bangladesh is not stored in Bangladesh Bank.

Without citing any source, the finance minister said that from July 2023 to April this year, foreign nationals living in Bangladesh took 130.58 million US dollars from their income to their respective countries.

Giving the information about the number of dollars taken by the citizens of any country, the Finance Minister said that the citizens of India received 50.60 million dollars, the citizens of China received 14.56 million dollars, the citizens of Sri Lanka received 12.71 million dollars, the citizens of Japan received 6.89 million dollars, the citizens of Korea received 6.21 million dollars, citizens of Thailand 5.30 million dollars, citizens of the United Kingdom 3.59 million dollars, citizens of Pakistan 3.24 million dollars, citizens of the United States 3.17 million dollars, citizens of Malaysia 2.40 million dollars, citizens of other countries 21.92 million dollars. They took the dollar to their countries.

In response to another question of MP Abdul Latif, Finance Minister Abul Hasan Mahmud Ali told the Parliament that the Ministry of Finance is taking various steps to control inflation.

The underlying causes of the ongoing crisis of inflation are uncertainty in the supply of global commodity markets, depreciation of the currency against the US dollar and supply chain failures in domestic markets.

He mentioned that the government has taken multifaceted steps to overcome the economic crisis to keep the liquid price within the purchasing power of the common people. 

The remand prayer against Jhenaidah District Awami League Relief and Social Welfare Secretary Kazi Kamal Ahmed Babu alias Gas Babu has been rejected by the court in the case of abduction with intent to murder Jhenaidah-4 Constituency Member of Parliament Anwarul Azim Anar. However, permission has been given to conduct an operation under the magistrate in Jhenaidah with him within 10 working days to recover the 3 abandoned mobiles.

On Monday (June 24), the investigating officer of the case, Assistant Commissioner of Detective Police (DB) Mahfuzur Rahman applied for a five-day remand for Babu. According to the remand application, a review of the seized mobile set of Shimul Bhuiyan, the mastermind behind the kidnapping and murder of victim Anwarul Azim Anar, revealed that Shimul Bhuiyan arrived in Bangladesh from India on May 15 and contacted Gas Babu on the night of May 16 to abduct and kill MP Anwarul Azim Anar.

Later, Shimul Bhuiya and Gas Babu met in Banga area of Faridpur and exchanged photos of victim MP Anar. Apart from this, from May 17 to May 19 night, Shimul Bhuiya was contacted on Babu's WhatsApp, SMS was exchanged and talks were held regarding the abduction of the victim and subsequent payment of money.

Babu was arrested and during preliminary interrogation, he confessed to communicating with the killer Shimul Bhuiya on WhatsApp, sharing pictures and exchanging SMS regarding the abduction and murder of the victim Anar. When inquired about the whereabouts of the mobile sets to communicate with Shimul Bhuiya on WhatsApp, Babu said that his mobile sets were lost and lodged a complaint with the police station in this regard. Later, on June 14, he gave a confessional statement to the court regarding his involvement in the incident.

In the deposition, the accused admitted that accused Shimul Bhuiyan threw two of the three mobile sets in the back pond of Ganguly Hotel and one in the east side pond of the stadium. These mobile sets are necessary because they contain important information about the abduction and murder of victims.

Abul Kashem, the lawyer for the accused, opposed the remand application and applied for bail. Besides, Metropolitan PP Abdullah Abu remanded the hearing on behalf of the state. After hearing both sides, Metropolitan Magistrate Ataullah rejected the remand prayer and bail application. However, in the presence of the magistrate, he gave permission to carry out the raid in Jhenaidah with Babu to recover the mobile phone.

On May 22, Anwarul Azim's daughter Mumtarin Ferdous Doreen filed a case at Sher-e-bangla Nagar police station as a plaintiff.

The Opposition Jatiya Party and Independent Members of Parliament have expressed their anger over the proposal to whiten black money or undeclared money by providing 15 percent tax in the budget. They said that ordinary honest tax payers would be offended and would not want to pay tax which will have an adverse effect on the country.

They said this during the general discussion of the 2024-25 budget session of the Jatiyo Sangsad(JS) on Sunday (June 23). The Speaker Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury presided over the session.

Jatiya Party Member of Parliament Masud Uddin Chowdhury said in the session that there is no new message of hope in the proposed budget. Instead regular tax payers have been discouraged by giving opportunities to whiten black money. And those who did not pay tax were encouraged.

He said, everyone pays 30-35 percent tax legally. And those who have not paid tax for a long time, that black money will be made white with 15 percent tax. So why do ordinary people pay regular taxes? It is unethical; as a result many people will take this opportunity without paying tax.

He said that this black money is of two types, it is earned illegally, it is not even shown for that. Another type of income is earning, they also did not pay tax. He strongly opposed the legalization of most of them black money, illegally earned money and demanded their punishment. He also spoke about the problems of common people due to inflation.

He said, remittance is a major driving force of our economy. About 1 crore people send thousands of crores money of remittances every year. Among them, there is a lot of writing about Malaysia; they send Tk. 4 thousand crores per month, Tk. 51 thousand crores annually. Many people think that there is a conspiracy about why so much money will come. There is also a syndicate with this. As a result they are also having problems sending remittances, creating instability there. Therefore, he demanded to facilitate remittance warriors and stop corruption, money laundering, bank robberies etc. in the banking sector.

AKM Mostafizur Rahman, another Member of Parliament of the Jatiya Party, said that the budget has kept the privileges of the upper classes. And the middle class will be under pressure. Various policies of the budget did not go in favor of the poor.

He said that the government's income will decrease as the price of cigarettes is not increased. It is the government's responsibility to ensure health care, but there is corruption everywhere, even though thousands of crores of rupees are allocated annually, people are not receiving medical care.

He said that the health system should be reformed to restore order in the health sector. Mega project loans are being taken, a large part of which is being taken up by outside contractor engineers. The young society in our country should be skilled in this regard.

Criticizing the decision taken to whiten black money, he said that as a result common taxpayers will not want to pay tax. So you have to move away from that expectation.

Independent Member of Parliament Abul Kalam Azad demanded that the money of the country has been diverted abroad, they should be identified and the money should be returned and they should be brought under punishment.

He criticized how the sovereign allows the parliament to launder black money. He demanded the identification and punishment of those involved in money laundering, corruption, and non-payment of loans from banks.

Another Independent Member of Parliament Sohrab Uddin said that the list of distressed banks has been prepared recently, and Bangladesh Bank has decided to merge these distressed banks with solvent banks. But because no effective measures were taken, these distressed banks suffered, with customers withdrawing all their money. He condemned the hot decision of Bangladesh Bank for this.

Sohrab Uddin said that the Finance Minister said to whiten the 15 percent tax to give an opportunity to show undisclosed money in the budget. That will not serve the purpose. No one will show this undisclosed amount with 15 percent tax, 10 percent in the past also did not get much response.

He said if it can be taxed at 5 percent then it will show the huge amount of undisclosed money in the country, the objective of the Finance Minister will be achieved. So I will request the Finance Minister to levy 5 percent tax to launder huge amount of money.

He said that development in the country is going at a fast pace, but the problem is corruption. Corruption has increased if it is not curbed then the speed of development will slow down. Today there is no place where there is no corruption. A lot of money is being lost in the bank, corruption has increased, the officials and the chairmen of the bank are immersed in corruption today. There was no trial for them.