M M Jasim :
A highly controversial person known for his cheating and certificate business has moved to obtain permission for a new university under the cover of an influential Jatiya Party leader.
The person named Abul Hossain previously ran several campuses of private universities to carry out the certificate business, which were later closed.
He reportedly earned huge amount of money from the applicants giving fake BBA, MBA and even PhD certificates.
When his certificate business came to the notice of various quarters, the University Grants Commission (UGC) banned the activities of all branch campuses. Earlier, the UGC rejected Abul Hossain’s application to establish Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty University in Gazipur due to his previous track record and bad reputation.
“Every official from top to bottom of the UGC knows about the certificate business of Abul Hossain. That is why UGC rejected his application,” a UGC official told The New Nation on Friday.
As his certificate business was stopped, he became desperate for opening a new private university using influence in the country’s political circle, sources said.
They said Abul Hossain reportedly influenced a top leader of Jatiya Party (JP) to open a new varsity in Mymensingh.
The UGC officials said that usually the founders submit their proposal to the Commission for getting approval for a private university. Later, the UGC sends it to the Education Ministry for completing formalities. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) gives the final approval.
“But Abul Hossain went directly to the PMO first violating the process. He dared do this as he managed blessings of the JP leader,” said the UGC official, requesting not to be named. “The issue came to their knowledge as soon as the file of Rawshan Ershad International University reached the UGC. The Commission is yet to take any decision about the file. It will be placed before a UGC meeting to be held on Sunday,” UGC Chairman Prof Abdul Mannan told The New Nation on Friday evening.
He said, “We know about the file. The file was placed showing Abul Hossain as the Member-Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the proposed university. Every- one knows him and his certificate business”.
Prof Abdul Mannan said that the UGC earlier received many allegations regarding his illegal activities.
Abul Hossain has been doing certificate business for long. He was the sponsor of two illegal branches of Darul Ehsan University and a branch of Prime University. He was also one of the owners of Royal University.
Abul Hossain is the founder of America Bangladesh, a so-called foreign study center.
When this correspondent gave a phone call for his comment on Friday, Abul Hossain just disconnected the call after hearing that it was from a journalist.
