UNB, Dhaka

BNP on Friday demanded the resignation of Finance Minister AMA Muhith and Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Atiur Rahman over the stealing of $ 101 million from Bangladesh Bank’s account in the US Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

‘The Finance Minister and the Bangladesh Bank Governor are responsible for turning the country’s economy into rubbish. Out of which moral right they are still in office after the Tk-800 crore was swindled out. We want them to resign right now,’ said BNP joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.

He came up with the demand at a press briefing at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office,.

The BNP leader also feared that plundering of huge money from the central bank may badly hit the country’s financial sector.

He also demanded the government identify those plundered the money from the central bank and other banks of the country and bring them to justice.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has been hacked and $101 million was taken out from the Bangladesh government’s account last month. The sensational heist surfaced after a Philippines newspaper published a report on it.

Claiming that the ruling party men have links to the money theft, Rizvi said, ‘It is (stealing money) the most heinous scam of history.  The country’s people believe that such a missive deceptive incident can’t take place unless the ruling party men are involved in it.’

The BNP leader said the incidents of plundering of public money are increasing as no action was taken against the ‘government’s ministers, advisers and influential ruling party leaders’ those were reportedly behind various scams in the financial sector, including the capital market, Destiny, Hallmark and Basic Bank ones.

Rizvi said people are not getting courage to keep their money deposited with banks following the incidents of bank robbery and ATM card deception. ‘All the banks have now become empty…now a 1974-like situation has been prevailing in the country. The country’s financial sector has collapsed. It won’t take a long time to ruin the country if the current situation continues to prevail.’

He suggested the government to look into the passports of Bangladesh Bank officials who visited different countries, including Singapore, Bangkok, Hang Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Dubai in the last three years on trivial issues to identify the international swindlers.

Rizvi also voiced a strong doubt whether the government will be able to recover the money stolen from the US Federal Reserve Bank.