Md. Aminul Islam, Special Correspondent :
When asked about the bribery of Tax Zone 3/48 Circle Assistant Commissioner Ataur Rahman and Peshkar Mehdi, Mehdi threatened to file a case. NBR plays an important role in collecting revenue. It is unfortunate but true that NBR has failed to achieve its goals as corrupt officials are busy collecting their own sugarcane. An investigation has revealed that despite numerous allegations of corruption against Tax Zone 3’s 48 Circle Assistant Commissioner Ataur Rahman and his office’s Peshkar Mehdi Hasan, the NBR administration has not taken any action. It has been learnt that Government Assistant Commissioner Ataur Rahman and Peshkar Mehdi Hasan have embezzled Tk 52 lakh from Kajal Associates through fraud. An official of Kajal Associates, on condition of anonymity, told Daily Present Times that tax is not payable under the former Section 74 of the Tax Act and the current Section 173. They also said that they have to pay money in order to keep your files secret, and accordingly, the company paid a bribe of Tk 52 lakh to Ataur and Mehedi in stages. The investigation also revealed that Mehedi Hasan deceived the company that prepared the taxpayer’s file and promised to provide tax certificates and certified copies. On 15January 2025, Mehedi, the issuer, took a check of Tk 4 lakh from One Bank, Mugda branch, in the capital. He handed over the check to Shamsul Alam of GTCL Housing. Shamsul Alam gave the check to Engineer Kawsar. After investigation, it was learned that Mehedi purchased shares in two 10-storey buildings on 16 kathas of land at 220/2/1 Pirerbagh, 60 feet. He originally gave the bribe check for the installment payment of that share. Chatur Mehedi owns several flats including flat 7/A in that building. He has also built up a wealth of crores of taka in his village home, Tangail. This reporter has received a video of Mehedi freely moving around the office. The video footage of the movement at different times has been preserved from CCTV cameras. This reporter has numerous other evidence of taking bribes against Mehedi. Mehedi is basically Assistant Commissioner Ataur Rahman’s main corruption colleague. When Mehedi was asked about bribery, corruption and concealment of files, he threatened to file a case against this reporter. His statement is taken verbatim: The Income Tax Intelligence and Investigation Unit of the National Board of Revenue will file a case against you for fraud, obstruction of state revenue collection, defamation and unnecessary harassment. The Income Tax Intelligence and Investigation Unit of the National Board of Revenue will verify and sort out all your assets and income tax files, so be careful, saints. This is how the corrupt bribe-taker Mehdi threatened the journalist with a case. He also said, “You write as much as you want in all the newspapers of Bangladesh. I will also look into it. I will prepare a file against you.” By saying these things, he tried to hide his various misdeeds. Recently, it was reported that Assistant Commissioner Ataur Rahman has been attached to the tax investigation.
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