A collection of contracts, bank cheques and private messages has exposed what appears to be an elaborate effort to secure coveted government postings through payments worth crores of taka, offering a glimpse into an alleged market for influential positions inside Bangladesh’s bureaucracy.

Salahuddin Ahmed, a deputy secretary from the 28th batch of the administration cadre  was transferred to the Chittagong Port Authority late last year. Documents obtained by Daily Waadaa had shown that Salahuddin allegedly tried to secure appointment as deputy commissioner of Chattogram by paying a huge amount of money.

The documents do not establish that the promised appointments were actually purchased, and some of the claims they contain could not be independently verified.

But they describe extraordinary financial arrangements: loans worth crores of taka, signed cheques offered as security and, in one document, an alleged 70 crore taka agreement connected to the Chattogram DC post.

That agreement went further. It purportedly committed Salahuddin to repaying 140 crore taka — twice the original amount — within 18 months “through work” if he obtained the posting.

Waadaa contacted Salahuddin but he initially denied the allegations, saying his phone had been hacked, his cheques had been lost and his national identity card had been stolen.

He later acknowledged that groups regularly approach officials at the Secretariat with offers, though his comments did not amount to an admission that he had paid for a posting.

The Chittagong Port Authority meanwhile has opened an investigation.

The paper trail began on November 24 last year.

On that day, according to a document reviewed for this report, Salahuddin signed an agreement on a 100 taka non-judicial stamp with Ahmed Shakil Khan, a resident of Dhanmondi in Dhaka.

Salahuddin, who is from Motihar in Rajshahi, was then serving as a deputy secretary at the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs.

The agreement described a 4 crore taka loan from Shakil Khan to Salahuddin, purportedly connected to business opportunities and work at Chittagong Port.

As security for the loan, the documents show, Salahuddin provided two cheques from his City Bank account, each worth 2 crore taka. What happened next gives the agreement particular significance.

On December 17, less than a month after it was signed, the Ministry of Public Administration issued an order transferring Salahuddin to the Chittagong Port Authority as a director. He joined on December 23.

But there was a problem: no director’s position was vacant. On January 8, citing administrative considerations, the authorities instead posted him as Controller of Stores.

Soon afterward, a purported Whatsapp exchange between Salahuddin and an unidentified person surfaced. In the conversation, Salahuddin appeared to complain that the position he had received was not the one he had expected.

“I was supposed to be given one position. They demoted me and put me somewhere else,” he wrote, according to the messages. “I am now destitute.”

Salahuddin appeared to suggest that he knew who had arranged the original posting.

“I know who arranged my order,” the message continued. “He is also a political person and someone very close to the prime minister.”

The documents indicate that the effort did not stop with the port.

On March 29, Salahuddin signed another written declaration stating that he had no objection to serving as deputy commissioner of Chattogram if appointed to the position.

In the same document trail, he appointed Md Habibur Rahman of Bauphal, Patuakhali, as his representative, authorising him to communicate with relevant parties on Salahuddin’s behalf and to make necessary security arrangements.

Then came the largest proposed transaction.

A document dated July 16 and bearing Salahuddin’s purported signature describes a 70 crore taka agreement tied to his appointment as Chattogram deputy commissioner.

Under its terms, Salahuddin would repay 140 crore taka within 18 months “through work” after obtaining the position.

The document does not explain what “through work” meant, how such an amount could legally be generated by a public official, or who ultimately stood to receive the money.

Other records suggest that substantial financial guarantees accompanied the arrangements.

The documents reviewed for this report include 12 cheques from Sonali Bank and City Bank with a combined face value of 16.5 crore taka that were allegedly provided as security in connection with efforts to secure the postings.

Five cheques drawn on Sonali Bank’s Bogura Corporate Branch totalled 11.5 crore taka. Seven City Bank cheques totalled another 5 crore taka.

The documents also indicate that Salahuddin provided people involved in the arrangements with copies of his service profile bearing his official seal and signature, as well as the national identity card of his sister, Jiniat Khatun.

The purpose of providing those documents, according to the material reviewed, was to reassure the intermediaries involved in the alleged transactions.

Reached for comment, Salahuddin initially rejected the allegations, as mentioned earlier. But when asked whether he had reported any of those incidents to police, he acknowledged that he had not.

“No legal action was taken over these matters,” he said. “But it should have been. That was my mistake.”

In a subsequent conversation, Salahuddin offered a broader account of what he said was taking place inside the bureaucracy.

“Several groups are constantly going from room to room at the Secretariat with various offers for officials,” he said. “These kinds of incidents happen there all the time and are still happening. There is no point denying it.”

He added: “It is because such things are happening that you have obtained these documents.”

His remarks raised questions extending beyond his own case...who the intermediaries were, which officials or political figures they claimed to represent, and whether they had the ability to influence appointments.

The documents reviewed for this report do not answer those questions.

Nor do they establish who, if anyone, received money represented by the cheques. A signed cheque or agreement alone does not demonstrate that funds were transferred, and the material does not include bank records confirming that the cheques were deposited or cleared.

But the timing of Salahuddin’s transfer to the port, the agreements, the financial guarantees and the messages have prompted an official inquiry.

Syed Refayet Hamim, secretary of the Chittagong Port Authority, confirmed that a committee had been formed after authorities received a complaint.

“After receiving the investigation report, further action will be taken,” he told Waadaa.

Hamim declined to identify the members of the committee, citing the need to protect the administrative process.

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