bdnews24.com :After the BNP, the Awami League has now joined the attack on Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman.Senior Awami League leader Nooh Ul Alam Lenin has demanded Rahman’s removal as Bangladesh Bank governor after the central bank’s fund heist on its US account.”Atiur Rahman should be removed from the governor’s post for his irresponsible concealment of the heist and other relevant information,” Awami League Presidium member Lenin wrote on his Facebook page Sunday night. Terming him a henchman of Muhammad Yunus, he demanded trial of the central bank governor.Lenin, a former leftist leader, confirmed to bdnews24.com that the status was posted by him.Bangladesh Bank has lost over $80 million from its account in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in a cyber heist. It is being described as the ‘biggest’ bank theft in the world. The matter came to light in Bangladesh only a few days ago, after Philippines’ the Daily Inquirer disclosed this in a report on Feb 29. Though the Bangladesh Bank management was aware of the heist from the beginning, it kept the whole matter a secret, so much so that Finance Minister AMA Muhith came to know about it about a month after the incident through newspapers.Irked by this, Muhith has described the central bank as ‘incompetent’ and warned of action to punish the management for its ‘audacity to not inform the government’ about the matter.The BNP has blamed both the governor and the finance minister for the incident and demanded their resignation. Lenin too raised questions over the governor’s role. “Atiur Rahman cannot avoid the moral responsibilities for the theft of Bangladesh Bank reserve. Despite knowing about such a huge scam over a month ago, why didn’t Rahman and the officials concerned inform the finance minister and the Banking Division secretary about it? This is surprising.” Banking and Financial Institution Division Secretary M Aslam Alam told the media that the Bangla Bank officials met him twice since the heist but did not bring up the issue even for once. “In whose interest [was this done],” Lenin asked in the post. “Even after knowing about such a huge scam, how could the Atiur remain so indifferent as to go on a tour to Delhi? Why didn’t the bank authority form a probe committee?” The ruling party Presidium member also raised questions on how the governor got some awards.”Atiur was more busy in serving his own interest than the bank’s. There are allegations that he abused his power and spent money from the Bangladesh Bank or private banks to collect awards and medals from home and abroad.” “What creative article has he written to enrich Bengali literature that he was conferred the Bangla Academy Award this year? Or, did he exercise his undue influence for this?”Lenin demanded an investigation into the allegation and demanded ‘appropriate punishment’ for the governor if he is found guilty. At the end, he clarified that he wrote the status as a ‘conscious and responsible citizen’, not as an Awami League leader.After assuming power in 2009, the Awami League-led government on May 1 that year appointed Aitur Rahman, a Dhaka University professor and development researcher, as the 10th governor of the central bank for four years. In April 2013, his appointment was extended by another tenure. Rahman is supposed to be in the post until Aug 2 this year when he reaches his retirement age of 65.
