During the Awami League government, former state minister for power, energy and mineral resources Nasrul Hamid Bipu and Sheikh Rehana's son Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby's friends and associates controlled the entire prepaid meter business. Through this, these heavyweights had control over a trade worth thousands of crores. This VIP syndicate, instead of focusing on production imported prepaid meters and supplied them. They laundered money abroad by showing inflated import prices compared to the market rate. They also took advantage of supplying meters to various organizations directly without tenders.
Basically, they dominated the tender process for prepaid meters, leaving no opportunity for others to get involved. It could be said that Bipu and Babu's associates held a monopoly on the prepaid meter industry.
Reliable sources from the Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources have told Bangladesh Pratidin that an open tendering system will be implemented in the sector to curb future trade and corruption. This will give all interested companies the chance to take part in the tenders.
Experts say that, in the case of the prepaid meter business, the government had created a market for illegal earnings by certain groups with state patronage. The state had facilitated exploitative business practices through this. The amount of money looted through meter trade in this sector must be determined and recovered, and those involved should face exemplary punishment by confiscating their assets and property.
Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, Advisor to the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources stated, “To break the syndicate in the prepaid meter sector, we will introduce an open tendering system for this sector.”
Investigations have shown that some prepaid meters were bought directly, while others were acquired through open tenders. However, the ultimate decision on the contractor was made by former State Minister Nasrul Hamid.
Three Chinese companies—Shenzhen Star, Hexing, and Wasion Group—formed a syndicate and supplied all the meters. This syndicate is accused of money laundering under the guise of meter trade.
In 2019, the company ‘Oculin Tech’ was granted the meter supply contract at NESCO, even though it had no previous experience. They partnered with Shenzhen Star to secure a project valued at 107 crore taka. Then, in 2021, they successfully won another project at NESCO worth almost 92 crore taka.Building on this experience, 'Oculin Tech', which had a work experience certificate from NESCO, managed to secure a meter supply contract with the Rural Electrification Board, the largest distribution company in the country. At the time, the then Power Secretary, Ahmed Kaykaus, exerted influence on the NESCO board to grant the contract to this company.
Shadab Sajid is the Managing Director of Oculin Tech. According to sources, K. Rumman Akhtar, who joined from Hong Kong, took on the role of Chief Technical Officer (CTO) at the company. Both individuals are friends of Radwan Mujib Siddiq, the son of Sheikh Rehana.
Oculin’s main role was providing technical support and software for meter usage, which enabled them to control the tender process. If anyone attempted to get involved, Nasrul Hamid would intimidate them to prevent their participation.
NESCO allocated the meter supply contract through seven tenders, with most seeing participation from no more than two companies. In four of these tenders, Shenzhen Star from China secured contracts amounting to over 500 crore taka, while Wasion won contracts worth over 400 crore taka in three tenders. Oculin Tech teamed up with Shenzhen Star in two of the tenders, and Meter D Tech partnered in two others.
Nasrul Hamid's brother-in-law, the late Mohammad Sujat Islam, was the local representative of Shenzhen Star in Bangladesh. Following his passing, the role was taken on by his close relative, Mahbub Rahman, also known as Tarun.
Two of the tenders with Wasion involved Techno Electricals, and one involved SQ Trading. These three companies belong to the SQ Group, which is owned by former Awami League Member of Parliament Abu Jafar Mohammad Shafi Uddin, also known as Shamim. SQ is the local representative of Wasion.
The syndicate focused on the Rural Electrification Board (REB) for the meter trade. REB serves over 36 million customers, with 1.7 million meters already installed and another 560,000 meters being worked on. In 2022, REB issued a tender to purchase 500,000 smart prepaid meters. Two bids were submitted, both connected to Shamim. Oculin Tech and Shamim’s SQ Wire and Cables won the joint contract.Another company that participated in the tender, Vikar International, is owned by Najmul Hossain, the brother of Enamul Haque, a former state minister for power from the Awami League.
Oculin and SQ secured the contract to supply meters and communication systems with a bid of 1,235 crore taka. Businesses involved in the project claim they overcharged by at least 617 crore taka compared to the competitive price. However, the meter supply work for this project has yet to commence.
Bd-pratidin English/ Translated by Afia
