HC wants to know ACC's steps after DU student's protest against 'railway mismanagement'

The High Court (HC) on Wednesday wanted to know what steps the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has taken after Dhaka University student Mohiuddin Roni's protest at the capital's Kamalapur railway station against corruption in the country's railway sector.

The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat wanted to know it verbally after seeing media reports in this regard.

Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin represented the state and lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan stood for the ACC.

Later ACC counsel Khurshid Alam Khan said the bench asked him whether the ACC knows about the protest of a student in handcuffs against railway's syndicate corruption. "If ACC is aware then what action they have taken over the allegation?"

Mohiuddin Roni staged a one-man protest against corruption in the country's rail administration for 13 days till Tuesday.

He was forced to come off his daily programme at Kamalapur Station on Tuesday. Instead he submitted a memorandum containing his demands and grievances to the director general of Bangladesh Railway.

He started protesting alleged mismanagement and corruption at Bangladesh Railway before Eid ul Azha, after falling victim to the dodgy e-ticketing system.

"Kamalapur Station authority stopped me from entering the station territory yesterday, and today when I went to submit my memorandum to the director general of Bangladesh Railway (at Rail Bhaban), Ansar-police tried to block me from entering the building," Roni said.

He had been showing up at the station since 8 July, with a 6-point charter of demands to reform the railway system.

The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) on Wednesday (20 July) fined Shohoz.com, an online ticketing platform of the country, Tk2 lakh after finding evidence of its mismanagement in selling tickets of Bangladesh Railways.

As per the decision of the DNCRP, Roni will get 25% of this penalty (Tk50,000).