The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) will be able to gain people’s trust and prevent corruption in the country if it remains rigid on its current stance on arresting graft suspects and ensuring punishment to them, according to experts. “I hope this crackdown (arrest of graft suspects) can be an effective way to check corruption if they could be brought to justice after speedy completion of investigation by the Commission,” former ACC chairman Ghulam Rahman told UNB. He said the judiciary should come forward to resolve graft cases to ensure the punishment of graft suspects since the Commission alone cannot prevent corruption in the country.
Official data revels that the ACC received a record of 6,729 graft allegations from March to September this year which indicates that commoners’ confidence on the Commission has increased.
But, the ACC is only probing 482 allegations due to lack of capacity to conduct probes into all the allegations. The remaining allegations were sent to the authorities concerned asking them to take actions over the allegations. Ghulam Rahman also said the trend of arresting graft suspects should be intensified but the Commission should also be careful so that no innocent people face any harassment by the ACC.
Official data shows that over 310 graft suspects have been arrested since incumbent ACC chairman Iqbal Mahmood took over charge of the Commission in March 2016. Most of the arrestees are government officials, bank officials and businessmen.
About the ongoing crackdown on graft suspects, Iqbal Mahmood at a function recently said there is no alternative to arresting the people sued in graft cases since they do not go to court. “We don’t want to arrest people. But, if you (people sued in cases) avoid court or law, we hunt you down,” he added.
Executive Director of the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Dr Iftekharuzzaman said the ACC is now giving a message to people that those involved in corruption will not be spared and this aggressiveness should be continued. The Commission is an independent body and it should be more aware of applying its power considering that everyone is equal in the eyes of law, he said, adding that the unbending attitude the Commission is now showing needs to be maintained. ACC secretary Abu M Mustafa Kamal claimed that the Commission’s image is getting better after the start of arrest of graft suspects. “The anti-graft crackdown of the Commission has already cast a positive impact on the grassroots level. Bank officials, for example, are now more aware while disbursing loans. They say they do not want to be accused in graft cases,” ACC director Mir Zainul Abedin Shebly told UNB.
Iftekharuzzaman said the general people have started keeping their confidence in the national anti-graft agency as they have now got a place for submitting their allegations. “People’s trust in the Commission is on the rise alongside its growing challenges,” he added.
