Action against corrupt Titas officials, illegal gas links starts

A deputy general manager (DGM) level official of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd has given around 2,000 illegal gas connections in Uttarkhan in the capital in the last few years by taking bribe of Tk 200,000 for each domestic connection.
A nexus in the state-owned gas company comprising high and low-level officials and employees have taken advantage of a government announcement that suspended domestic gas connections. The thousands of applications that have piled up at different offices of the gas distribution company provided the nexus of unscrupulous officials an opportunity to continue with their nefarious crime.
Only the 'blessed' industrial, commercial and residential consumers, who are ready to give bribe to these unscrupulous officials, get gas connections from the grid within a month or two with the touch of the 'magic hand' of the DGM, a government report said.
"We have started investigation against all six gas distributing agencies to get the   real picture. We have identified some people and are going to start drive against them from today (Tuesday). It will, however, start from my home town Keraniganj," State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid told the Daily Observer on Monday evening.
The meeting, attended by the Senior Secretary of the Energy Division Anisur Rahman and top officials of the six gas distribution agencies, discussed the safety issues and decided to cut off illegal gas connections from today (Tuesday).
The meeting also discussed the activities of some corrupt officials for whose illegal activity so many lives were lost in Narayanganj, the Minister said.