THE ambitious Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP), envisioned to address Bangladesh's escalating electricity demand, has now become mired in allegations of massive corruption involving former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her family, according to local media reports.
Launched in 2017, the RNPP was designed to generate 2,400 megawatts of electricity through two VVER units by 2024, promising to supply up to 20 percent of the country's electricity. However, beneath this ambitious project lies a darker narrative of alleged embezzlement.
Reports suggest that Sheikh Hasina, along with her family members, siphoned off more than US$5 billion as kickbacks, linked to the purchase of Soviet-era nuclear reactors from the Russian state-owned company, Rosatom, as reported by Mirror Asia.
The total construction cost of the RNPP stands at a staggering US$12.65 billion, raising concerns about inflated prices and misappropriated funds. According to the Global Defence Journal, a significant portion of this money was allegedly funneled into Malaysian banks through various Russian slush funds.
Corruption Allegations and Oversight Failures
Bangladesh's lack of experience in the nuclear industry and the absence of professional oversight have further compounded the issue. The decision to entrust Russia with full control over the construction process, reportedly influenced by the US$5 billion in kickbacks, has left the project vulnerable to inefficiencies and corruption.
Recent media reports on exorbitantly priced goods for furnishing apartments at the RNPP site have brought renewed scrutiny to the entire project. The involvement of key institutions, such as the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC), in these irregularities has sparked public outrage and judicial intervention.
A departmental inquiry has escalated to the High Court, raising questions about accountability within the ministry and the broader project management. The "pillow scam," in which ordinary items were purchased at grossly inflated prices, exemplifies the project's systemic corruption. The widespread mismanagement, fueled by inefficiency and unaccountability, has cast a long shadow over Bangladesh's nuclear ambitions.
Hasina's authoritarian rule
In developing nations like Bangladesh, for example, democracy is being gradually held hostage in the grips of corruption-plagued autocracy.
In a research study published on March 23, 2018, German thinktank Bertelsmann Stiftung has already listed Bangladesh among the autocratic regimes. Because of the severe interference of the autocratic rulers, various institutions, including the judiciary, have already become mere puppets.
Back in 2015, when UK Labour Party's MP Tulip Rizwana Siddiq, daughter of Shafiq Siddique and Sheikh Rehana, won the election, her aunt Sheikh Hasina, then premier of Bangladesh, proudly told the parliament how her niece had won the election, defeating her Western contestants.
Hasina also told the parliament that her younger sister, Sheikh Rehana (Tulip's mother), is a British national who lives in the UK and is experiencing financial hardships. Rehana goes to work on a bus as she can't afford to buy a personal vehicle.
Tulip facilitated the negotiation of kickbacks from Rosatom to Sheikh Hasina in London before finalizing a deal to build a nuclear plant in Rooppur in Pabna district of Bangladesh.
Following her victory, Tulip was invited to Bangladesh and was accorded several receptions. One such reception titled - Let's Speak to Tulip, was organised at the Radisson Hotel in Dhaka and was sponsored by a fraudulent company named Prochchaya Limited.
According to media reports, Tulip mediated a very controversial billion-dollar arms deal between Bangladesh and Russia in 2013. Under Russian assistance, she also played a key role in the ongoing Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Bangladesh. Tulip didn't offer this service for free!
In addition to the monthly 'honorarium' she has been receiving from her aunt, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, since January 2009, Tulip's mother, Sheikh Rehana and several members of the ruling family dynasty in Bangladesh got 30 percent 'kick-back' from the Russians and the entire amount has been secretly deposited in several offshore bank accounts in Malaysia.
A Dhaka daily on April 12, 2015, reported that 'Tulip accused of concealing Putin link'.
"A British newspaper has published a story alleging that Bangladeshi Labour candidate Tulip Siddiq concealed information of her meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, one of the most controversial figures in Europe today,"
Mail Online reported that Tulip Siddiq was accused of 'failing to tell voters that she met Vladimir Putin in Moscow two years ago in 2013 when a controversial billion-dollar arms deal was signed' [between Bangladesh and Russia]. The report said the Tories accused Siddiq of trying to conceal her extraordinary links to Putin and Sheikh Hasina, the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
Tulip Siddiq, a former aide to Ed Miliband, and who is a Labour Party lawmaker in Hampstead and Kilbern, was at the Kremlin with her aunt, the autocratic leader of Bangladesh who is accused of human rights abuses.
British newspaper Daily Mail also referred to a photograph showing a smiling Ms Tulip Siddiq alongside Vladimir Putin, Sheikh Hasina, and Ms Siddiq's mother, Sheikh Rehana.
The report attributed to the Torries claims that she appears to have gone to great lengths to cover up her trip in January 2013-just six months before she won a hotly contested Labour selection contest in Hampstead-and her links with Hasina.
The report added that the Tories also said she had deleted postings and photographs on her blog which showed how she campaigned to get her aunt [Sheikh Hasina] re-elected [in a controversial voter-less election held on January 5, 2014.
According to the report, the Torries "questioned why her 1,200-word official Lab-our profile made no mention of Putin, the arms deal or being a member of a ruling Bangladeshi dynasty". British Labour Party MP Tulip Siddiq met Russian President Vladimir Putin on January 15, 2013, with Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Ms. Tulip also is an advisor to the Bangladeshi PM.
British MP Tulip's Kremlin Connection
Media reports show Tulip Siddiq mediated a controversial billion-dollar arms deal between Bangladesh and Russia. Under Russian assistance, she also played a key role in Bangladesh's ongoing Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant. Tulip didn't offer this service for free!
In addition to the monthly 'honorarium' she has been receiving from her aunt, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, since January 2009, Tulip's mother, Sheikh Rehana and several members of the ruling family dynasty in Bangladesh got a 30 percent 'kick-back from the Russians and the entire amount has been secretly deposited in several offshore bank accounts.
Corruption allegations against Tulip Siddiq's family members: Tulip's paternal uncle, Tarique Ahmed Siddique, is the Security Advisor to the Bangladeshi Prime Minister. His wife and daughter are stakeholders in a fake company named Prochchaya Limited (Incorporation Certificate Number C-75659/09, dated March 25, 2009).
This company, in affiliation with a slash fund cheat fund company named Destiny Group, had smuggled out around $900 million to different countries, including the United Kingdom and has opened a company named Zumana Investment & Properties Limited [Incorporation Certificate Number 7417417, dated October 25, 2010] in the United Kingdom by investigating dirty money.
Various newspapers claim in the UK and worldwide that Labour Party MP Tulip Siddiq has maintained discreet connections with Moscow ever since she met President Putin. Some of those recently expelled Russian diplomats even visited the house of Tulip's mother.
The Anti-Corruption Commission has summoned 33 Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project officials in connection with irregularities amounting to $64 million.
According to a notice issued by the commission on Sunday, the officials have been summoned to investigate the project's abuse of power, irregularities, and corruption. Commission spokesman Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya confirmed that the anti-graft watchdog asked the officials to appear before the authorities concerned on November 6, 7, 11, 12, and 13.
Social media was flooded with criticism soon after the purchase anomaly of the nuke plant housing was revealed last May. According to media reports, the purchase prices of various items to furnish the project's apartments for the officials and employees were unusually high compared to the market prices.
A pillow was found to have been bought for $100, while its carrying cost from the shop to the building was $10.
The government formed two probe committees to investigate the fraud. The reports found that $64 million crore was swindled in the 'pillow scam' under the project for Rooppur in Pabna, a western Bangladeshi district 213km from the capital. According to the media report, an electric stove costs $120, and the carrying cost from the ground floor to the top is $100. An electric iron costs $80, and the carrying cost is $50. - Agencies
