Several ruling party leaders identified as godfathers of extortionists, tender manipulators, disputed land grabbers and illegal drug dealers have gone underground following the government crackdown on graft and casinos.
On September 18, law enforcement agencies started drives against casinos at different sporting clubs and bars in the capital following the allegations that the gambling centres were run by powerful Awami League activists.
Since then, a number of leaders and activists associated with Awami League, Jubo League and Krishak League have been arrested.
However, a number of Councillors of both Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) went into hiding on the eve of crackdown. They were also involved in extortion, grabbing disputed land and illegal drug trade in Dhaka city.
The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested Habibur Rahman Mizan, an AL leader and Councillor of Ward-32 of DNCC, and recovered Tk 1 crore in fixed deposit receipts and Tk 6.77 crore in bank cheques.
Meanwhile, Dhaka South Jubo League Office Secretary Kazi Anisur Rahman, known as Kazi Anis, has been suspended over the accusation of breaching party discipline. Kazi Anis has, however, not been arrested by police.
Ward-level AL leader Enamul Huq Enu has fled abroad and his younger brother Rupam, joint general secretary of Gandaria unit AL, is now on the run, sources said.
RAB seized Tk 5 crore in cash, 720 tolas (about 8kg) of gold and five firearms raiding the houses of Enamul and arrested one of his friends and his employee in Old Dhaka last month.
Law enforcers also failed to trace out illegal arms belonging to Golam Kibria Shamim and Jubo League leader Khaled Mahmud Bhuiyan. There were at least 100 sophisticated, modern and foreign-made illegal arms and 5,000 rounds of bullet belonging to Shamim and Khaled, intelligences sources said.
Ruling party insiders said the ongoing crackdown on graft and other illegal activities will be intensified after completion of the Councils of the associate bodies of the ruling Awami League in November.
Many ministers of the immediate-past AL government had been dropped from the present Cabinet and a good many lawmakers did not get party nominations to contest the December 30 national polls for their alleged misdeeds, an AL leader said.
It is learnt from sources that the ongoing drive is slowing down due to student protests on BUET campus over Abrar Fahad killing.
The Anti-Corruption Commission or ACC has launched initial investigations into allegations against the ruling Awami League Parliament Whip Shamsul Hoque Chowdhury and Nurunnabi Chowdhury Shawon, MP, also a Jubo League leader.
Whip Shamsul, an MP from Chattogram, who is also the secretary general of Chattogram Abahani Limited, had criticised the drives on sporting clubs in the crackdown on illegal gambling.
Former Public Works Department chief engineer Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, additional chief engineer Abdul Hye and superintending engineer Hafizur Rahman who had allegedly helped Shamim win government contracts illegally, are on the ACC list as well.
A high official of an intelligence agency told the Daily Observer that the ant-corruption drive will continue across the country by the order of the head of the government. "There is no specific time or place of conducting drives against any irregularity and corruption including casino businesses, the official said.
