DB arrests Grameen Telecom workers’ leaders

The Detective Branch of police arrested the president and the general secretary of Grameen Telecom Workers Union in Dhaka on Tuesday over allegations of fraud and money embezzlement.

Grameen Telecom is a company owned by Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus.

The arrestees are – the union president Md Kamruzzaman and its general secretary Firoz Mahmud Hasan.

Police said the two leaders of the union were arrested in a case filed by the union’s finance secretary, Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman, with Mirpur Model Police station in Dhaka.

Md Moshiur Rahman, a deputy commissioner of DB (Gulshan Division), told The Business Post that both arrestees were produced before a court and it allowed them to interrogate the duo for seven days in custody.

According to the case statement, Grameen Telecom management embezzled Tk 26.22 crore from the account of the Worker’s Welfare Foundation Fund on May 17 and 25 in collusion with the two arrestees.

The case statement said some of the union leaders including the duo and the lawyers appointed by the workers had worked for the management of Grameen Telecom breaching the trust of the workers.

They also withdrew the cases filed with the labour courts against the Grameen Telecom management by the workers, read the case statement.

The DB officials said the arrestees were also spreading rumours against the government.

Assuring to pay all the dues to the employees after withdrawal of the cases they also told the employees that government will collapse like Sri Lanka and afterwards Muhammad Yunus will become the prime minister, said the police officials.

Demanding payment of Tk 437 crore dues, as many as 176 employees had filed 104 cases against Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Telecom with labour courts on February 7, 2022.

All the cases were withdrawn on May 23 on the ground of a reconciliation between the company and the workers after the company agreed to pay all the dues.