On Tuesday afternoon, students launched a campaign against corrupt officials in the IT sector at the ICT Tower in Agargaon, Dhaka, presenting a list of those involved in corruption. The campaign was led by Musaddiq Ali Ibn Mohammad, a key coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, and included students from engineering departments of universities like BUET and Dhaka University, as well as various ICT professionals.
The delegation first attempted to meet with Ranjit Kumar, the Executive Director of the Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC), to discuss the corruption allegations. They inquired why the most recent recruitment exam was conducted by BCC instead of BUET, as per traditional procedures. The delegation also questioned Kumar about corruption in projects like EDGE, the National Data Center, and others under BCC.
In his defense, Ranjit Kumar stated, “I am not the signing authority for major projects; these matters were overseen by the Secretary and the former State Minister.” However, the delegation was not satisfied with his response and issued an ultimatum, demanding his resignation by the next day.
The students also sought information about Mohammad Saiful Alam Khan, the Manager of Testing and In-charge of the Data Center at BCC, known to be a close associate of former State Minister Palak. However, it was revealed that Khan has been absent since August 5.
It was reported that upon hearing of the student campaign, several officials listed as corrupt, including EDGE Project Change Management Specialist and Deputy Secretary Tofayel Hossain, Network Security Analyst and Project Director Bishwajit Torafdar, Internship Manager Mohammad Mahbub Karim, and Regional Director Madhusudan Chandra, left the office.
Talha Ibn Alaudin, a BUET student and a key coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination ICT Entrepreneurs Council, stated, “Mr. Ranjit Kumar has engaged in massive corruption in the PPP contract for network maintenance in 2,600 unions under the Info-Government Phase III project. Despite BUET’s feasibility study recommending a revenue share of 40% for BCC and 60% for the private company, he set the revenue share at 10% for BCC and 90% for the private company. This 20-year contract has enriched Palak and Ranjit, while the government suffers financial losses worth thousands of crores each month.”
Later, the delegation met with Mamunur Rashid Bhuiyan, the Project Director (Additional Secretary) of A2I. They handed him a list of around 15 officials, including Program Managers Majedul Islam, Farhad Zahid Sheikh, and Manik Mahmud, accused of corruption in the name of Digital Bangladesh and Smart Bangladesh. The students issued a 24-hour ultimatum, demanding the suspension of these officials and an investigation into their corruption. They also called for the reinstatement of those who had been unjustly dismissed for not supporting corruption in previous years. Following the ultimatum, government authorities suspended their activities later in the afternoon.
