Catching electricity theft that has been going on for a decade was Yusuf Ali's curse. The customer accused of theft was supposed to be punished and Yusuf Ali, as an electricity worker who uncovered the theft, was supposed to be rewarded. But Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC) did the opposite.

Technical supervisor Yusuf Ali was dismissed from his job for fear of being caught by the syndicate involved in electricity theft. And all sorts of ridiculous allegations have been made against him which do not fall under his authority or responsibility? The reason for the dismissal has been mentioned, not collecting the actual readings of the customer's actual electricity consumption meters, and taking unclear snapshots.

Yusuf Ali was also not one to be silenced; he has also thrown a challenge. He has written an application saying that taking meter readings and taking snapshots is not our responsibility. These are the work of the commercial supervisor. He also wrote, if I am responsible, I will definitely take the punishment. If not, I want my job back.

How the incident began:

Yusuf Ali told Barta24.com, Musa Majid (43/A), an expatriate from Eskaton area, was using excess load as per the record. On the instructions of the executive engineer, I sent the lineman to write a letter for the unauthorized increase in excess load. The lineman went to the spot and found that both meters were down (readings much lower than the bill). When the lineman informed me on the phone, I quickly went to the spot. When I found evidence of meter tampering, I immediately informed the executive engineer. Then a team from the DPDC control room came and disconnected the connection from the pole. Ayub Ali, the manager of the expatriate customer, admitted to meter tampering. After that, I gave the two meters to him.

In his confession, Ayub Ali mentioned, 'I tampered with the two meters in the garage of the house 7/8 years ago. Since then, I have been paying the meter readers every month. The current meter reader Abbas has agreed to pay Tk. 10,000 per month. That is how I have been paying Tk. 10,000 every month. He has said that he will look into it if there is any problem.’

Before the tampering was detected, 246 units were being used in the month of May (2024) (19266226). The previous month there were 262 units. Bills ranging from a minimum of 144 to a maximum of 477 units were billed. In the meantime, the bill has fluctuated. And after the tampering, the bill for 2940 and 2501 units of electricity in October (2024) and November (2024) was Tk. 42,238 and Tk. 36,056 respectively. DPDC has received a bill for Tk. 25,000 to Tk. 30,000 against that meter 8 years ago (before tampering) which fluctuated from 2 to a maximum of Tk. 4,500 in the previous months. After the installation of the new meter, the bill for Tk. 42,000 was also received in the winter, meaning that there was an electricity theft of more than Tk. 40,000 every month.

According to the rules, in such cases, the meter should be checked and a fine should be imposed. A fine of about Tk. one crore should be imposed, but a different incident happened in the case of customer Musa Majid. No fine was reported. Not only that, but even though Yusuf Ali disconnected the connection, the customer secretly restored the line illegally with the help of another group of DPDC.

It has been alleged that to save the accused Musa Majid, DPDC's outsourcing company coordinator (Moon Power Engineering), DPDC's Kakrail Zone Superintendent Engineer Hanif Uddin and DPDC's Director (Admin) Sonamoni Chakma are carrying out various conspiracies. Many people from DPDC's Kakrail Zone and head office are involved. It is said that a settlement was reached with the customer for Tk. 16 lakh. In exchange, Yusuf Ali, who detected the theft, was fired and the accused customer Musa Majid got a clean chit.

Coordinator Mominul Haque told Barta24.com, "I am not involved in this. In response to a question about whether the accused customer was fined, he said, "A new investigation committee has been formed and they will be able to say. I have not heard any information about any fine before that."

The then executive engineer of DPDC Kakrail Zone, Mehedi Hasan, has been transferred to the Tongi Store Management Division. He told Barta24.com, "We could not determine the fine, so it was sent to the Metering Division. They will be able to say the matter. However, no fine was imposed while I was there."

At one time, the sole responsibility for electricity distribution in the capital Dhaka and its suburbs, Gazipur and Narayanganj, was in the hands of DESA (Dhaka Electricity Distribution Authority). When the organization was involved in widespread corruption, it was dissolved and two companies were formed. The company responsible for the north was named DESCO. And the DPDC was responsible for the south.

It took over all the assets and liabilities from DESA and started commercial operations on July 1, 2008. DPDC started its operations with 655,908 customers, but currently the number of customers has exceeded 1829,000. It is said that a large number of corrupt people remain in DPDC. Due to which this company is lagging behind in various aspects including system losses. The case of Yusuf Ali can be a suitable example of how active the dishonest syndicate is.

The government has decided to use the temporary court building adjacent to the Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj to conduct the trial of the BDR murder.

To this end, on Sunday (January 12), the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs declared the temporary court building adjacent to the Dhaka Central Jail as a temporary court and published a gazette. The order in this regard was signed by the Secretary of the Law and Justice Division, Sheikh Abu Taher, on the orders of the President.

The order of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs stated that the government, by virtue of the powers conferred by Sub-section (2) of Section 9 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, has filed Case No. 9 of the New Market Police Station of Dhaka Metropolitan Area against those involved in the BDR murder that took place at the BDR headquarters in Peelkhana, Dhaka, dated: 6 April 2009 AD. (Lalbagh Police Station Case No. 65, Date: 28 February 2009), G, R No. 110/09, Metropolitan Special Tribunal Judge's Court, Dhaka Metro Special Tribunal Case No. 777/2010, has declared the temporary court building adjacent to the Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj, Dhaka district, in place of the temporary court building located in the field adjacent to the Government Alia Madrasa and Dhaka Central Jail in Bakshi Bazar area of Dhaka metropolis, declared in the original S, R, O No. 403-Act/2010 dated 28 December 2010, for the purpose of conducting the trial of the case.

The order further states that the government hereby orders that the trial of this case will be held in the temporary court building adjacent to the Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj, Dhaka district.

An ordinance has been issued increasing the value-added tax (VAT) or supplementary duty on hundreds of goods and services including hotels, restaurants, telephones, internet and soft drinks. However, the Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said that even if VAT is increased on these goods and services, it will not have much impact on the common people.

He made this comment at a briefing at the Foreign Service Academy auditorium on Sunday (January 12) evening.

He also mentioned that the tax money will be spent on the development of Bangladesh.

At this time, the Chief Adviser's Deputy Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad Majumder, Apurba Jahangir, Senior Assistant Press Secretary Faiz Ahmed, Assistant Press Secretary Ashrofa Imdad, Suchismita Tithi were present.

Costs that will increase due to the increase in customs and taxes

Previously, a supplementary duty of 20 percent was imposed on the use of mobile phone SIM or RIM cards. This has now been increased to 23 percent. As a result, the cost of talking on mobile phones and using the internet will also increase. VAT on bills of ready-made clothing outlets of brand shops and shopping malls has been increased from 7.5 percent to 15 percent. In addition, VAT on all types of restaurants has been increased from 5 percent to 15 percent.

The list of customs and tax increases also includes tissues, cigarettes, nuts, mangoes, oranges, grapes, apples and pears, fruit juices, any type of fresh fruits, paints, detergents, dyes, liquor bills, potato flakes, plastic and metal frames of glasses, reading glasses, sunglasses, electrical transformers and the oil used in them, electricity poles, CR coils, GI wires, etc. Apart from this, travel tax has also been increased.

Another 27,000 metric tons of parboiled rice imported from India under an open tender agreement has arrived at the jetty of Chattagram port on the Panama-flagged bulk carrier 'MV SDR Universe'. This is the second consignment of rice imported from India during the current interim government. The ship has already started unloading rice.

The ship arrived at the outer anchorage of Chattagram port at around 4:15 am on Sunday (January 12). Later, the ship arrived at Jetty No. 10 of the port at around 11 am.

This information was confirmed to Barta24.com by Gyanpriyo Bidurshi Chakma, the Traffic and Storage Controller (Acting) of the Chattagram Regional Food Controller's Office.

He said that the second consignment of rice imported from India arrived at Chattagram port in the morning. This time, about 27,000 tons of rice was brought to Kakinada port in Andhra Pradesh, India by a bulk carrier named 'MV SDR Universe'. Later, it arrived at Jetty No. 10 at 11 am. And the unloading of rice started at 6 pm in the evening. It may take 8-9 days to unload this rice.

Earlier, on December 25, the first batch of 24,690 metric tons of rice from India arrived at the outer anchorage of Chattagram Port, 'MV Tanais Dream'. This was the first rice ship imported from India during the interim government. The unloading of rice was completed through regular processes after collecting samples of the ship's rice and conducting physical tests.