Staff Reporter :
The High Court on Wednesday wanted to know what steps the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has taken over the allegations of the Dhaka University student who had been protesting for last 13 days
at Kamalapur Railway Station demanding an end to irregularities and mismanagement of the Bangladesh Railway.
The High Court bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat wanted to know about the issue verbally after they have been noticed it through the media.
The court wanted to know from the ACC counsel if the ACC is aware of the matter, and if so, what measures have been taken. The High Court will look into the matter if the student seeks remedy against the railway’s mismanagement and corruption, the court also said.
Later ACC counsel Khurshid Alam Khan said, “The HC bench asked me whether the ACC knew it that a student in handcuffs is agitating against railway’s syndicate corruption. The court also asked me whether the ACC is aware of the matter, and if so, what is the action of the ACC over the issue?”
The court direction has already been communicated with the ACC, said Khurshid Alam Khan adding if the office (ACC) informs me about this, I will inform the court.
Mohiuddin Rony, a fourth-year student of the Theatre and Performance Studies Department of the University of Dhaka, has been holding a sit-in program in front of the ticket counters of the Kamalapur Railway Station in Dhaka since July 7, protesting the mismanagement of the railway department. He also gave a memorandum to the Director General of Bangladesh Railway on Tuesday.
Besides seeking the Prime Minister’s intervention to accept his demands, the student has set a deadline of 48 hours to the railway authorities. Various organizations and different sections of students have expressed their support to him.
On June 13, he tried to book train seats on the Dhaka-Rajshahi section from the railway website. Although the money was deducted from his mobile banking account, he did not get a seat in the train. When he complained to the server room of Kamalapur station that day, he was told that there was a ‘system failure’, and if he did not receive the money within 15 days, he was asked to go again.
He said that he complained about the matter twice to the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection. But he was not called for hearing from there. In this circumstance he started a non-violent movement.
Meanhwile, finally the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) held hearing on his allegation and fined ticketing platform shohoz.com Tk 0.2 million for its negligence in the process of selling tickets. The fine was imposed after a hearing on the allegation of negligence brought by Mohiuddin Rony, said DNCRP Director General AHM Shafiquzzaman in a press briefing on Wednesday.
Shohoz’s negligence has been proven in the hearing, said the DG. Shohoz will have to pay Tk 0.2 million within five working days, he added. Rony will get 25 percent (Tk 50,000) of the entire fine amount, the DG said.
