Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has launched an investigation into alleged irregularities in the procurement of electronic voting machines (EVMs) by the Election Commission (EC), summoning six officials involved in the process during that time.

The six summoned officials are: Md Saiful Haque Chowdhury, Deputy Chief of the EC Secretariat; Mahfuzul Haque, Assistant Chief; AHM Abdur Rahim Khan, IT System Consultant of the EC’s IDEA project; Farhad Hossain, then Acting Deputy Secretary; Farzana Akhter, System Analyst; and Muhammad Ashraf Hossain, then Senior Maintenance Engineer.

A letter signed by ACC Assistant Director and investigation team head Md Rakibul Hayat confirmed the development.

The ACC is probing allegations against former Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda and others for violating rules by approving the purchase of 150,000 substandard EVMs without any feasibility study and without calling tenders. The machines were allegedly bought at ten time higher prices than market rates, causing an estimated financial loss of Tk 3,172 crore to the government.

However, they have been asked to appear at ACC headquarters on Wednesday (July 2), to present their statements.

The controversial purchase was made ahead of the 2018 national election.

MSK/