Former Bangladesh Chatra League leader Salauddin Ripon and his wife Miftahul Jannat Luna have been in control of 32 trains run by private enterprises for more than an era. This couple is controlling 32 trains out of 37 run by some private enterprises under Bangladesh Railways East and West. The contract of running the operation of these trains was initially leased for 4 years, but due to the undue favor of ministers of ousted Awami League government, the contract of this lease has been renewed over and again.
The state public transport agency has been deprived of revenue as a result of this renewal through irregularity instead of issuing new leases. Salahuddin Ripon participated in the 12th National Assembly election as an independent candidate from Barisal 5 parliamentary seat. He started the work of train management by opening anonymous companies and managing Bangladesh Railway officials in the name of different companies and participating in tenders. This couple has taken over 90 percent of the country's commercial railways. In many cases, all the companies that participated in the tenders for running the trains belonged to Ripon. As a result, he got the contract by participating in the tender at a very low rate in the competitive system. In this case, the Ministry of Railways and the Bangladesh Railway Authority have pretended not to see the matter of rigging or irregularity.
As per the information given in the income tax certificate, Salauddin Ripon is the proprietor of M/s SR Trading, LR Trading and NL Trading. TM Trading is owned by Miftahul Jannat Luna. The addresses of these four companies are at 78 Motijheel in the capital. According to Bangladesh Railways, Messrs. Shanta Traders, MK Engineering Works and Rubayet Trade International who participated in the open tender for train lease are also running in Ripon's office address at 78 Motijheel. Railway officials said anonymously, he participates in tenders through various organizations.
According to the information, Bangladesh Railway is commercially operating 8 pairs of trains in the eastern region. These are Balaka Commuter, Mahua Commuter, Jamalpur Commuter, Dewanganj Commuter, Karnaphuli Commuter, Titas Commuter and Sagarika Commuter. All these are leased by the Ripon-Luna couple.
According to Railways information, 5 companies participated in the tender process to lease Dhaka Commuter No. 99, Up and Down Commuter No. 5 and Local Train No. 554. Among them, four institutions are run by this couple supported by Awami League. The addresses of these companies are the same. Three companies participated in the tender for 23-24 Rocket Mail and 27-28 Chilahati Express trains, all of which are owned by the Ripon-Luna couple. 15 Mahananda, 585 Local and 16 Mahananda and 25/26 Nakshikatha Express were participated in the tender process by three companies. These institutions are also controlled by Ripon-Luna couple. Furthermore, this couple has got work by participating in various commercial train tenders. Allegedly, various employees working under the couple also participated in open tenders and took the scope of operating commercial trains. Apart from this, it is alleged that Ripon and his wife Luna have also got the job of managing 16 trains out of 21 trains in the western region.
According to railways sources, the Mahananda Express train travels from Chapainawabganj to Khulna every day. In 2009 the train was leased to LR Trading of Ripon. Then the lease price of a coach per trip was estimated at Tk 40, 760. At that time, the fare for a passenger from Chapainawabganj to Khulna was Tk 60. From October 2013, this rent has been set at Tk 95. But then the lease price was reduced to Tk 35, 029 taka. But one coach was also extended. In 2013, NL Trading, another company from Ripon, took over the train operation.
According to information, four companies participated in this tender. The participating companies are NL Trading, TM Trading, M/s Shanta Traders and LR Trading, all of which are owned by Ripon and his wife Luna. As a result, he participated in the tender process through several organizations and got the contract at a very low price.
Ripon's uncle was a contractor of Dhaka Railway. After the death of his uncle in 2004, Ripon entered the world of railways by marrying his cousin. After that, Ripon became unstoppable in the world of railways by developing friendship with the influential people of the Ministry of Railways and Bangladesh Railway. Bangladesh Railway officials did not take it into consideration during the evaluation even though they participated in the tender in the name of different organization through manipulation. As a result, railway authorities are deprived of more revenue by having the same person operate different trains.
Former Chhatra League leader Ripon's mobile phone was called several times to ask for his statement regarding the allegations of getting various train management jobs through irregularities and manipulation, but he did not respond.
Railway officials who do not want to reveal their names say that there was pressure from the two former ministers of the government to give tender to these companies, due to which this influential couple had to work under compulsion.
Director General of Bangladesh Railway Sardar Shahadat Ali told The Bangladesh Pratidin on Friday, “The couple got the job of managing commercial trains long ago. They got the contract through open tender. But I cannot say now whether there was any pressure or orders from influential quarters of the government to do their work.”
However, he did not give any answer about the role of the members of these open tender evaluation committee. Allegedly, the Railways Director General, during his tenure as the Chief Commercial Officer of the Eastern Region, illegally renewed the contracts of several trains in 2017 and 2018 and gave special benefits to this couple.
(The report was published on print and online versions of The Bangladesh Pratidin on September 14 and rewritten in English by Lutful Hoque Khan)
