Dr Suprabha Rani, the Upazila Health and Family Planning Officer, has accused Sujanagar Upazila Jubo Dal convener Siddiqur Rahman Pintu and a group of his associates of intimidating her over the awarding of contracts for medical supplies. She claims the group pressured her to cancel the existing tender and arrange a fresh bidding process.
The incident reportedly took place at the Sujanagar Upazila Health Complex office at around noon on 3 November. Pintu, however, has denied threatening or intimidating the health official, claiming that he and others visited the facility to raise concerns about alleged irregularities in the tender process.
Dr Suprabha Rani said the health complex invited electronic government procurement (e-GP) tenders on 10 September for six packages under its Medical and Surgical Requisites (MSR) budget, with a total estimated value of Tk 80.76 million.
According to her, the tender evaluation was conducted online in accordance with e-GP guidelines and following advice from senior officials. Four companies were selected for the contracts on 2 November.
However, she said some local political figures began objecting to the process, claiming that the tender conditions were too restrictive. They subsequently started pressuring her to cancel the procurement and invite fresh bids.
Describing the incident on 3 November, Dr Suprabha Rani alleged that she was attending a meeting in the conference room when a group of eight to ten people, led by Pintu, entered her office area.
She claimed that the group disconnected the electricity supply to her office and turned the CCTV cameras away from their original positions. They then entered her room, fastened the door from inside and pressured her to cancel the tender.
“They were pressuring me to arrange a re-tender in violation of the rules. When I refused, they intimidated me in various ways and threatened to deal with me outside the office,” she said.
The health official added that she was deeply concerned about her personal safety and feared further threats, including possible physical harm. She has therefore decided not to attend her workplace for the time being.
She also said she had verbally informed the local administration about the incident and intended to submit a formal written complaint to the Pabna Civil Surgeon.
Dr Wasim Khan, the Resident Medical Officer (RMO) at the health complex, said some individuals who had failed to secure the contracts were questioning the health official and creating a disturbance inside the facility.
He said he entered her office and found that the CCTV camera had been turned away from its original position. He suspected that some unruly individuals might have moved it.
Dr Wasim added that he contacted the police after noticing the situation, following which an officer arrived at the health complex.
Although he was a member of the tender evaluation committee, he said he had not been fully informed about the details of the procurement process. In his view, anyone with concerns about possible irregularities should have approached the relevant authorities rather than creating a disturbance inside a healthcare facility.
Pintu has strongly rejected the allegations against him, insisting that the tender process was riddled with irregularities and corruption.
He claimed that local contractors holding valid licences had been excluded from the process, while people from another district, Jhenaidah, had allegedly been brought in to form a committee without proper transparency. He also alleged that restrictive conditions had been included in the tender documents to favour certain companies.
The Jubo Dal leader further accused Dr Suprabha Rani of manipulating the procurement process, allegedly in collusion with her husband, to provide undue advantages to selected companies.
Pintu maintained that he and his associates had visited the health complex only to raise concerns about the tender procedure and demand compliance with the rules. He denied confining the health official or threatening to kill her.
He also claimed that the officer-in-charge of the local police station was present at the scene. Accusing the health official of making false allegations to conceal her own alleged misconduct, he dismissed her account of the incident.
Pabna Civil Surgeon Abul Kalam Azad said he understood that the tender process in Sujanagar had been completed in accordance with the relevant rules.
He expressed concern over what he described as a growing pattern of harassment and intimidation of government officials by individuals who fail to secure public contracts.
According to him, similar incidents have recently occurred in various government offices. He also said that he had personally experienced such harassment in the past.
“Such behaviour is unacceptable under any circumstances,” he said, adding that the health official had been advised to remain somewhere safe for a few days.
The Civil Surgeon said the authorities would take institutional measures over the matter as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile, Sujanagar Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mozaffar Hossain said he had received a telephone call from the health complex on the day of the incident and went there in response.
He said he saw several people at the facility but was not informed by the health official that she had been confined inside her office.
The OC added that he later went to offer prayers and subsequently learnt that the health official had left the premises. He confirmed that the police had not received any formal written or verbal complaint regarding the incident at the time of his statement.
He said the police would take legal action if a complaint was submitted.
The incident has raised concerns over the safety of public officials and the transparency of government procurement processes. While the health official has alleged intimidation and coercion, the Jubo Dal leader has raised counter-allegations of corruption and favouritism in the tender process.
An impartial investigation into both sets of allegations would be necessary to establish what happened and determine whether any rules were violated. Ensuring that public officials can perform their duties without intimidation is also essential to maintaining accountability and transparency in government institutions.
