Photo: Collected
Deputy Director of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Ratan Kumar Das has officially filed in court a charge sheet against Bellal Hossain Chowdhury, an office assistant serving the Uttara area under Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkho (RAJUK), after uncovering movable and immovable assets worth Tk 29,73,594 outside his declared income.
As per the ACC sources, Bellal became part of RAJUK in 2006, initially serving as a Dispatch Writer. Later, in 2012, he earned a promotion to the position of office assistant. Notably, he initiated the process of filing income tax returns for the tax year 2009-2010. On December 17, 2018, he submitted an asset decleration to the Anti-Corruption Commission.
The charge sheet reveals that, during the investigation, no concrete record-based evidence was discovered regarding his legitimate income prior to joining the public service.
Bellal possesses a 700-square-feet apartment long with 0046.50 decimal located on the sixth floor of a building in Paschim Rajarbagh of Paltan Thana, coupled with 6.5 decimal ownership of low land in Pashi Mauza of Rupganj Thana in the Narayanganj District.
Additionally, he has leased a shop in the D Staff Quarter Mosque Market at Rajarbagh for a duration of 10 years.
Bellal Hossain Chowdhury submitted an income tax return under Section 19 BBBBB for the tax year 2013-2014, declaring an income of Tk 23,65,000. A scrutiny of Section 19 BBBBB of the Income Tax Ordinance 1984 reveals that funds acquired through illicit or criminal activities cannot be legitimately invested in this context.
Unfortunately, during the investigation, Bellal failed to provide a satisfactory explanation or furnish appropriate documentation regarding the source of the declared income of Tk 23,65,000 under Section 19 BBBBB.
In the tax year 2018-19, Bellal filed an income tax return declaring an income of 6 lakh taka derived from shop security. However, it was noted that for the acquisition of ownership of the shop, he had already accounted for the same 6 lakh taka from his income as an investment. Consequently, the 6 lakhs taka claimed from the security of the shop was not acknowledged as new income, as it had already been considered as part of the investment for the shop's possession.
The recorded information indicates that Bellal possesses movable and immovable assets valued at Tk 74,50,139. In contrast, his reported acceptable income is 59,36,720 taka. This implies that he has accumulated a total of 29,73,594 taka in movable and immovable assets outside the scope of his known income.
It's noteworthy that Bellal's residence is situated in Ashwadia Union of Noakhali Sadar Upazila, while he currently resides in Shantinagar, Dhaka.
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