Five officials and employees of the Water Development Board (WDB) office in Bera, Pabna, have been accused of traveling to Dhaka without formally obtaining leave, leaving key sections of the office understaffed.
According to local sources, the officials have been in Dhaka for two days in response to a summons related to an ongoing investigation into a court case.
The officials named are Deputy Assistant Engineers Atiq Hossain, Habibur Rahman and Suruj Mondal; Assistant Engineer Russell Fakir; and Office Assistant-cum-Computer Typist Taufiqur Rahman.
Multiple local sources said a case (CR-308/2026, Tejgaon) was filed in the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court in Dhaka on March 5. Twelve people, including the five officials from the Bera WDB office, were named as accused.
The court directed the Detective Branch (DB) of the Tejgaon Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) to investigate the case. As part of the investigation, the investigating officer reportedly issued notices asking the accused to appear with relevant documents at 11:30 am on June 15. The five officials traveled to Dhaka to respond to that notice.
However, allegations have emerged that they left for Dhaka without obtaining formal leave, affecting normal office activities in Bera.
During a visit to the office on Tuesday afternoon, four of the five officials were absent. Assistant Engineer Russell Fakir was present at the office.
Russell Fakir said he had traveled to Dhaka on June 15 and returned the same night. Asked whether he had taken leave, he said permission had been granted verbally because they were required to appear before investigators.
When contacted by phone, Deputy Assistant Engineer Atiq Hossain denied being in Dhaka and said he was in Nagarbari on official work. He later declined to meet and said he would speak after completing his work.
Deputy Assistant Engineer Habibur Rahman said he had traveled to Dhaka and returned at night. He claimed that he had informed his superiors verbally before leaving.
Md. Jahidul Islam, Executive Engineer of the Bera Water Development Board office, said officers sometimes receive verbal permission when they are unable to attend the office due to official duties. He added that the five officials had obtained verbal approval and that their leave would be processed later.
Sudhangshu Kumar Sarkar, Superintendent Engineer of the Pabna Water Development Circle, said officials must obtain permission from the appropriate authority before traveling outside their workplace, whether verbally or in writing. He added that any complaint regarding unauthorized absence would be investigated and action taken if necessary.
