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Dhaka //

Awami League General Secretary and former Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader’s bank account has been suspended. The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), the financial intelligence department of the central bank, has sent this directive to the various banks and financial institutions of the country on Tuesday to suspend bank accounts.

According to the BFIU’s letter, if any account is maintained in the name of the said person and his privately owned company, the transaction of that account should be suspended for 30 days under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and the use of any locker in their name should be stopped for 30 days.

The names of Obaidul Quader’s parents have been mentioned in the bank account suspension letter. Besides, his National Identity Card number and date of birth are also mentioned. Along with suspension of transactions, all bank account related information or documents such as account opening form, KYC and transaction statement etc. have been asked to be sent to BFIU.

Obaidul Quader has been in charge as the general secretary of Awami League since October 2016. He was the Minister of Road Transport and Bridges until the fall of the Awami League government on August 5. The former president of Bangladesh Chhatra League was a member of parliament from Noakhali-5 constituency.

Obaidul Quader was not seen in public after Sheikh Hasina left the country on August 5 in the face of student agitation. After the quota movement began, he threatened on July 15 that the BCL was “ready to respond”. After this, the Chhatra League attacked the protesting students.

Among the students’ movement, the Nobel-winning economist and the current interim government’s chief advisor. Muhammad Yunus called on the international community to stand by the students in a statement. Awami League leader Obaidul Quader then commented that the statement of Muhammad Yunus was treason.

Some ministers of the former government have already been arrested after the political change. Along with that, the bank accounts of many ministers-MPs as well as Awami League-close businessmen have been suspended. Apart from this, cases have been filed against various political leaders including Obaidul Quader in many parts of the country.