Teenager Launches Anti-Corruption Website After Family Faces Pension Bribes, Prompting Official Inquiry in Mymensingh
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MYMENSINGH — Authorities in Mymensingh have issued show-cause notices to two employees of the Sadar Upazila Primary Education Office following reports of systemic corruption and extortion involving a family’s pension benefits.
The disciplinary action targets Account Assistant AHM Nadirul Hasan, also known as Sabuj, and Office Assistant-cum-Computer Operator Mujibur Rahman. Mymensingh Sadar Upazila Primary Education Officer Monika Parveen confirmed on Monday that the employees have been ordered to provide a written explanation for their conduct within three working days.
The investigation follows the launch of a website, ghush.site, created by 17-year-old Shahed Sharif Ahmed. The teenager developed the platform to protest the culture of bribery within local administration after witnessing his family face repeated demands for illicit payments. Shahed, an A-level student studying under Cambridge International, initiated the project after experiencing harassment while attempting to obtain his own passport and struggling to process his late mother’s pension funds.
His mother, Amina Khatun, a teacher at Azmatpur Government Primary School, passed away in December 2022. The family alleges that in the months following her death, they were coerced into paying 38,000 taka in bribes to various government offices, including the treasury and education departments, just to access her 700,000-taka provident fund. Furthermore, officials reportedly demanded an additional 100,000 taka in bribes to release funds from the welfare board and the Ministry of Public Administration.
Following media coverage of the family’s ordeal on Monday morning, Shahed’s father, Shariful Islam, was summoned to the Upazila Primary Education Office. Islam remained at the office for several hours throughout the day, noting that officials began expediting his file almost immediately after the public exposure of the corruption. He stated that the office is currently restructuring the necessary documentation and expressed optimism that the remaining dues would be settled shortly.
Shahed currently resides in Mymensingh with his father, who previously worked for a bank in Saudi Arabia. The family’s ancestral home is in Katiadi Upazila of Kishoreganj District. Officials have not yet commented on further potential disciplinary measures pending the outcome of the employees’ responses.
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