According to official documents, Masudul Islam stood first in the job recruitment examination. Hasibul Hasan was second there, and Kazi Absar Uddin was third. But after many dramas, the third person, Absar Uddin, was appointed instead of the first person. He is still serving as the Managing Director (MD) of the company.
During that appointment process, Power Department Secretary Habibur Rahman was simultaneously serving as the Chairman of North West Power Generation Company (NWLUPGCL). He recently went on post-retirement leave as a senior secretary to the government.
It is known from the minutes of the board meeting signed by the then power secretary Habibur Rahman on October 31, 2022 of North West Power Generation Company, eight people were called for the appointment of managing director on October 29 of that year. However, four people took part in the exam. Among them, Masudul Islam was the first to get 91 marks. Second place Hasibul Hasan got 85 marks. And Kazi Absar Uddin Ahmed was third with 83 marks and AHM Mohiuddin was fourth with 81 marks.
It is alleged that Absar Uddin, the third among the four, initiated the conspiracy. He canceled the recruitment process by promoting former state power minister Nasrul Hamid as 'snehdhanya'.
Fazle Hossain Badsha (Rajshahi-2), the leader of Water, Power, Engineering Council and the leader of Bangabandhu Engineering Council and Member of Parliament of Rajshahi Region (Rajshahi-2), forced the power department to appoint himself by canceling the transparent recruitment process.
Masudul Haque, who was the first at that time, was also misled as 'not an engineer'. However, there is no requirement to have such (engineering) qualifications to be a managing director of a company including a power plant.
It is reported that Absar was frustrated with the lack of new projects in the North West Company, narrowing the avenues of illegal income. However, by joining the company he allocated one car for himself and two for family use. As the only ongoing project neared completion, he began looking for ways to generate revenue by creating project variation opportunities.
An official of the company said on condition of anonymity that Absar Uddin has not done anything wrong by joining the company. Organized a trip to China with his wife and children at the expense of the contractor in the name of management meeting, which is against the norms mentioned in the government order. Even disregarding the rules, he went on a pleasure trip with his family to Singapore on the contractor's money from that trip. There is no mention in his official order on this matter. Questions have also been raised as to how a government official travels abroad outside of government orders.
However, Kazi Absar Uddin denied the allegations against him and told the Bangla Tribune, 'According to my knowledge, I was not third. Assigned naturally. Now if anyone feels that there has been an irregularity in this matter, then it should be investigated.'
