Dhaka, February 9 – The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has launched an operation at Bangladesh Bank to open lockers belonging to bank officials. The ACC team, led by Director Sayemuzzaman, entered the central bank premises this afternoon with a 20-member delegation.

Earlier, on February 2, the ACC had requested the Governor of Bangladesh Bank to take necessary measures to temporarily freeze the assets stored in the bank's security vault lockers by its officials. The commission sought to prevent any unauthorized access or removal of the stored items.

According to an official letter, the ACC had conducted a search in the coin vault of Bangladesh Bank on January 26 with the presence of an executive magistrate and court permission. During the inspection of the safe deposit box belonging to former Deputy Governor Sitangshu Kumar Sur Chowdhury, officials discovered and opened three sealed containers. The search revealed 55,000 euros, 169,300 US dollars, 1.5 kg of gold, and Fixed Deposit Receipts (FDR) worth 70 million Bangladeshi taka.

The ACC suspects that other bank officials have also stored unaccounted wealth in similar sealed containers within the vault. The investigation is part of an ongoing probe into allegations of money laundering and other financial irregularities involving officials at various levels of the central bank.

The letter further stated that the ACC Chairman had discussed the issue with the Finance Advisor on January 30. Following this discussion, the Finance Advisor agreed to the temporary freezing of the wealth stored in the Bangladesh Bank vault. As a result, the ACC has moved forward with its operation to access and investigate the stored assets, ensuring compliance with legal procedures and preventing any unauthorized removal or concealment of wealth.