Customs official Matiur Rahman, who has been in the limelight over the controversy surrounding a Tk15 lakh goat since Eid-ul-Azha this year, has been removed from his post as a director of state-owned Sonali Bank, said the Ministry of Finance.
A directive from the Financial Institutions Department of the Ministry of Finance was issued in this regard on Monday (24 June).
The instructions have been sent to Sonali Bank Chairman Ziaul Hasan Siddiqui.
Earlier, Matiur was removed from his post as the president of the VAT tribunal of the National Board of Revenue on Sunday (23 June).
A young man who is said to be Matiur Rahman's son, reportedly bought a goat for Tk15 lakh from Sadeeq Agro in Mohammadpur during Eid-ul-Azha this year and went viral over it.
Since then, discussions began on the young man, named Mushfiqur Rahman Ifat, and how a 19-year-old can afford such an expensive sacrificial animal along with expensive watches, and cars, and maintain a luxurious lifestyle.
There have been also calls to investigate Matiur for corruption.
Matiur, however, has said Ifat is not his son.
During a television interview, Matiur Rahman said: "I do not have a son named Ifat. I have one son and one daughter. My son's name is Ahmed Toufiqur Rahman and my daughter's is Farhana Rahman.”
“My son is very religious, prays five times a day, and has studied abroad. He left a job worth $100,000 and now lives with us in Bashundhara. The slander that is being spread is reclusive and deeply hurtful,” he added.
Despite these denials, evidence suggesting a familial link surfaced.
Matiur Rahman is said to have two wives.
Further fueling the speculations, Feni-2 Member of Parliament Nizam Uddin Hazari has said that Ifat is indeed the son of Matiur Rahman from his second wife, who is the MP’s maternal cousin.
The MP said Matiur Rahman regularly participates in family events with his second wife and may have denied the relationship out of anger.
Meanwhile, following the appeal of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), a Dhaka court has barred Matiur Rahman, his wife Laila Kaniz and their son Ahmed Taufiqur Rahman Arnab from travelling abroad.
ACC has started to investigate the assets of Matiur Rahman.
