​Altercation Among Contractors Over Pending Bills at West Zone Railway HQ.

Md. Sohel Rana, Rajshahi Correspondent ​An altercation broke out between two factions of contractors over the clearance of pending bills at the Controller of Stores (COS) office in the headquarters of West Zone Railway. Allegations have emerged that three local contractors aggressed against others, demanding that their bills be processed first. ​The incident occurred on Monday afternoon. Upon receiving the news, 20–25 contractors went to the COS office to demand the release of their pending payments. During this time, local contractors Manjur Hossain Bhutan, Mahfuz Alam Appel, and Shariful Islam allegedly mounted pressure to have their own bills cleared first. ​According to relevant sources, a allocation of 4.5 crore BDT arrived at the COS office three days ago to pay off pending contractor bills. Although rules dictate that bills should be paid chronologically based on work completion, the allocated amount fell short of what was required. Consequently, Controller of Stores Nahid Hossain took the initiative to clear smaller bill amounts first. The three mentioned contractors objected to this approach. ​Eyewitnesses reported that contractors gathered at the COS office on Monday afternoon for their payments. At one point, Bhutan, Appel, and Shariful pressured authorities to give priority to their bills and insisted on releasing funds according to a specific list they brought. This led to a heated altercation and subsequent physical scuffle with other contractors. ​However, Mahfuz Alam Appel denied the allegations, stating, "Only one-fourth of the pending bill amount has arrived. Many people's bills remain stuck. We did not demand priority payments. The allegation that we used our local status to exert pressure is also untrue. All contractors were asking for their bills at the same time, which led to a minor exchange of words—nothing more." ​Ahmmed Hossain Masum, General Manager (GM) of West Zone Railway, said, "I am unaware of any physical altercation among the contractors. However, I heard there was some misunderstanding." ​Controller of Stores Nahid Hossain noted, "Whenever allocations arrive, contractors attempt to get their bills paid first. There was a minor issue regarding this. The incident wasn't major." ​When asked whether the three local contractors pushed for priority payments, he said, "They were asking to have their bills cleared first. However, I don't recall whether they brought any specific list." ​Hafizur Rahman, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Rajshahi Railway Police Station, mentioned that the event occurred on Monday afternoon, but he joined the station later that evening. No formal complaint has been lodged regarding the incident. He added that an investigation will be conducted if a complaint is filed.