Ministry Orders Action Against CAAB Engineer Shariful

The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism has ordered an investigation and strict action against Md. Shariful Islam, Superintending Engineer of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB). The directive follows severe allegations against him regarding multi-crore corruption and securing his job using a fake freedom fighter certificate.

On June 16, a formal letter was sent to the CAAB Chairman from the office of the State Minister. The letter, signed by the State Minister's Private Secretary Mahbubur Rahman, instructed CAAB to verify the claims published in a national daily, take immediate necessary action, and inform the ministry.

The directive comes in the wake of an investigative report published on June 11, titled "Job held for 25 years on father's fake freedom fighter certificate." The report exposed widespread fraud and irregularities by Shariful Islam. It revealed that in 2001, he was appointed as an Assistant Engineer at CAAB using a forged freedom fighter certificate. Investigations showed that his father's name does not exist in the official gazette of 640 freedom fighters from the Gopalganj district.

Throughout his career, several other corruption charges have been filed against him. These include financial irregularities in the construction of the office gate and restroom in 2017, the embezzlement of Tk 2.5 crore meant for the maintenance of the Kawla CAAB quarters, and massive corruption in the Cox's Bazar Airport expansion project. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is currently investigating these cases. Despite such severe allegations, Shariful was mysteriously promoted from Executive Engineer to Superintending Engineer following the political shift on August 5.

A senior CAAB official confirmed receiving the ministry's letter, stating that the process of taking appropriate legal and administrative action has already begun. According to sources from the ACC and the relevant ministry, the allegations against Shariful Islam are highly specific. Therefore, the ongoing investigation may lead to strict departmental actions, potentially including his termination from service.

//DBTech/SA/ EK//