Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has expressed its grave concern as over 50 employees and officials of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) protested over the recent dismissal of one of their colleagues in front of its headquarters in the capital.
The national anti-graft watchdog has recently fired deputy assistant director Sharif Uddin (Patuakhali office) from his position.
Terming the incident as rare and creating controversy, it also called for unveiling the truth of the incident as early as possible to ensure its trustworthiness.
Citing the media reports, TIB said, “ACC deputy assistant director Sharif has recently been sacked. There is a lot of negative reaction inside and outside the organisation. There have also been incidents of human chain in front of the ACC head office in Dhaka with the participation of ACC employees and officials in protest of the sudden dismissal”.
While working in Chittagong, Sharif played a key role in conducting large-scale anti-corruption campaigns in land acquisition including NID and passport fraud of Rohingya citizens, and irregularities in Cox's Bazar and filed lawsuits against those involved in those corruption scandals, TIB said in a statement.
The question naturally arises as to whether Sharif Uddin was transferred from Chittagong to Patuakhali and finally was sacked due to the pressure exerted by these officials among the influential syndicates involved in these raids and cases, it argued.
At the same time, according to the ACC (staff) rules, 2008, the ACC has the power to remove an employee, but TIB believes that the people have a right to know why the removal was made instead of ensuring the protection of a competent and courageous official in charge of public interest, it added.
