Kudrat-e-Khuda of Gonopurta and his boundless power of unlimited corruption

Kudrat-e-Khuda of Gonopurta and his boundless power of unlimited corruption

National Desk :    |    ০১:৩৫ পিএম, ২০২৫-০৮-২৪

Awami Title is missing || The secret of staying in the same position for 12 years

Benjamin Rafiq: Serious allegations of unlimited corruption and various tricks have been found against Kudrat-e-Khuda, the chief arborist of Public Works, for staying in the same position for more than 12 years.
According to sources, he joined the Public Works Department as the chief arborist of Arboriculture in April 2012, bypassing a senior officer in an invisible game of trickery. Since then, he has violated the rules and regulations (job) with the power of a horse eating grass and has kept the post of the head of the department in his charge for more than a decade.
On the other hand, multiple sources in the Public Works Department said that another sub-divisional officer, Md. Moazzem Hossain, was promoted on the basis of seniority. In this case, he was a victim of discrimination. He was transferred from one branch to another and was subjected to mental harassment. However, Sheikh Md. Kudrat-e-Khuda, being a junior member of the Awami League, took up the post of chief arborist despite being a junior.
It is worth noting that Sheikh Md. Kudrat-e-Khuda came to power during the previous Awami League government. Since he was a pro-Awami League official, he continued to show his power at work. Using his influence, he embezzled crores of taka through various corruptions. He withdrew money in fake bills and vouchers in the name of cleaning the clothes and gardens of the employees and by showing fake employees in the accounts. In addition, sources say that he colluded with contractors to make the allocation for planting saplings, building boundary walls, and preparing hedge beds and flower beds disappear. Despite committing so many irregularities and corruption, Kudrat-e-Khuda is still in good health in his post.
When asked, an official who is a beneficiary of Arboriculture said, "Our branch (Arboriculture) has an annual allocation of 15 to 20 crore taka. A large part of this allocation is being looted by the chief arborist Kudrat through fake bills and vouchers. The corruption investigation against him has been tried to be covered up by spending a lot of money. He is harassing others in various ways for protesting his corruption.
It has been reported that the corrupt chief officer of Arboriculture is no longer coming to the office to do his work. He has been on the run since the fall of the Awami League government on August 5. As a result, all the work of the office has come to a standstill. In this regard, some employees said that he (Kudrat) has been on the run since the fall of the Awami League government. He no longer comes to the office. People for various jobs are coming and going. No other officer has been given responsibility in his place. As a result, all the work of the office has come to a standstill.
It is learnt that on January 17, 2016, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) started investigating certain issues of the expenditure of the Public Works Department's Arboriculture Branch for the fiscal years 2013-14 and 2014-15. The letter was issued to the Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department, Special Investigation and Investigation-2 of the ACC. At that time, the ACC investigation officer spoke to several officers and employees of the Public Works Department's Arboriculture Branch. They gave the ACC information about the corruption of the chief arborist. Later, the ACC wrote to an officer and two employees and recorded their testimonies. After that, the ACC summoned several files of the Public Works Department. But Qudrat-e-Khuda did not submit those files to the ACC. Later, the ACC recommended the Public Works Ministry to investigate those allegations through a letter. Based on the ministry's instructions, the Public Works Department formed an investigation committee. The committee was also not given information about those files.
On the other hand, in 2016, during the ongoing investigation of the ACC against Qudrat-e-Khuda, an official named Md. Moazzem Hossain and a few employees opened up about his corruption. However, in this incident, Qudrat-e-Khuda managed the administration and fired one of the people who protested against the corruption. And the rest were transferred as punishment. The investigation into that corruption was suppressed for 7 years by exchanging large sums of money. It is known that Chief Arborist Sheikh Md. Qudrat-e-Khuda was asked to submit all those documents on January 28, 2016. The ACC's demands included the withdrawal of Tk 5 lakh through fake clothing allowance bills in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 fiscal years, embezzlement of Tk 3 lakh 99 thousand 399 from the cleaning and sanitation sector without doing any work, withdrawal of Tk 13 lakh 77 thousand 72 from various sectors including preparation of hedge beds and flower beds in the boundary wall and exterior section, planting of saplings without doing any work, accounts of grass cutting and cleaning of Suhrawardy Udyan and nursery development activities in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 fiscal years and preparation of flower beds and planting of saplings in the Shikha Chirantan area, information on preparation of summer and winter seasonal flower beds and planting of saplings in the fields adjacent to Building No. 1, Building No. 2, Building No. 3, Building No. 4, Building No. 8, Building No. 9 of the Bangladesh Secretariat, clothing records of the arboriculture (arboriculture) staff in the 2013-14 fiscal year and the Bangladesh Secretariat's Preparation of hedge beds and planting of seedlings on the outer section of the south-west and north boundary walls and production of saplings on the branches, preparation of summer and winter flower beds and planting of seedlings in the Osmani Memorial Auditorium premises and preparation of flower beds and planting of seedlings in the premises of the construction building and supply of ornamental trees for the budget year 2014-15 and preparation of winter seasonal flower beds and planting of seedlings in the courtyard of the high-ranking government house in Eskaton Garden.

In this regard, Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department Mohammad Shamim Akhtar said, "As far as I know, there were several allegations of corruption against the Chief Arborist. However, I will check and see what the latest status of all of them is. If there is any deviation in the investigation after the corruption incident, then it will be investigated and action will be taken." Chief Arborist Sheikh Md. Qudrat-e Khuda was asked to submit all those documents on January 28, 2016. The ACC's demands included the withdrawal of Tk 5 lakh through fake clothing allowance bills in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 fiscal years, embezzlement of Tk 3 lakh 99 thousand 399 from the cleaning and sanitation sector without doing any work, withdrawal of Tk 13 lakh 77 thousand 72 from various sectors including preparation of hedge beds and flower beds in the boundary wall and exterior section, planting of saplings without doing any work, accounts of grass cutting and cleaning of Suhrawardy Udyan and nursery development activities in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 fiscal years and preparation of flower beds and planting of saplings in the Shikha Chirantan area, information on preparation of summer and winter seasonal flower beds and planting of saplings in the fields adjacent to Building No. 1, Building No. 2, Building No. 3, Building No. 4, Building No. 8, Building No. 9 of the Bangladesh Secretariat, clothing records of the arboriculture (arboriculture) staff in the 2013-14 fiscal year and the Bangladesh Secretariat's Account for preparation of hedgebeds and planting of saplings on the outer section of the boundary wall on the south-west and north sides and production of saplings on the branches, preparation of summer and winter flower beds and planting of saplings in the Osmani Memorial Auditorium premises and preparation of flower beds and planting of saplings and supply of ornamental trees in the premises of the construction building in the budget of the 2014-15 fiscal year and preparation of winter seasonal flower beds and planting of saplings in the courtyard of the high-ranking government house in the Eskaton Garden. It is learnt that Md. Soleiman, a mechanic of Arboriculture of Public Works Sub-Division-1, has been subjected to various harassments for giving information about corruption regarding the chief arborist to the ACC. He testified before the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on May 3, 2016. The chief urban planner was angry over this incident. A few days later, he was transferred from Dhaka to Chandpur. His family members were living in Dhaka, so he was transferred to Dhaka in August 2019. In March 2022, he was ordered to be transferred to Satkhira again due to the previous outrage. Mechanic Soleiman filed a case in the labor court to seek redress for this incident. After that, when a notice was issued from the court, his transfer order was suspended with the intervention of the chief engineer.
According to sources, Md. Nayan Molla was working as a gardener in the arboriculture department of the Public Works. He retired as an employee of the Osmani Memorial Auditorium. He testified to the ACC about the irregularities and corruption of the chief arboriculture officer.
In 2016, Mizanur Rahman was in charge of the power lawn machine operator in the Ramna area of ​​the arboriculture department of the Public Works. He was transferred to Gopalganj after he told the ACC representative about the corruption of the chief arboriculture officer. He was transferred to Dhaka in June this year. He spent seven years in Gopalganj, leaving his family in Dhaka.
Sub-divisional arborist of the Public Works Arboriculture Branch Md. Moazzem Hossain. Currently serving in Chittagong. In 2016, the ACC conducted an investigation and interviewed him. Angered by this, the chief arborist transferred this officer to Rajshahi using his dishonest syndicate.
The question has arisen: is the chief arborist of the Public Works, Kudrat-e Khuda, above the law? What is the secret of remaining in the same position for 12 consecutive years despite committing one corruption after another? Where did the chief arborist of the Public Works, Kudrat-e Khuda, who fled after the fall of the fascist government on August 5, find the courage to create chaos in the office?
Although the two numbers used by the chief arborist of the Arboriculture, Sheikh Md. Kudrat-e Khuda, were connected multiple times to speak on the relevant issue, the connection was not established.
According to the concerned informed circles, it is the demand of the hour to immediately investigate the entire matter of the great corruptor Kudrat-i Khuda, impose exemplary punishment according to the law, confiscate his movable and immovable properties and deposit them in the state treasury.