There have been allegations of corruption worth crores of taka in various sectors including electricity bills at Chaumuhani Madan Mohan High School, a traditional educational institution in Begumganj, Noakhali. The current president of the school's management committee and convener of Chaumuhani Municipality BNP, Zahir Uddin Harun, has alleged that the school's previous managing committee, formed under political influence during the previous Awami League government, and its temporarily suspended headmaster, Md. Mahbubur Rashid Tarek, turned the school into a hotbed of irregularities and corruption.

He raised these allegations on Thursday noon at a meeting with journalists held in the school principal's room.

Established in 1917, the centenary Madan Mohan High School was once known as one of the heartlands of education, culture and achievement in the region. But due to long-standing mismanagement, political partisanship and various financial irregularities, the educational environment of this traditional school has been severely damaged, the current management committee members have alleged.

Zahir Uddin Harun said that former MP Mamunur Rashid Kiran and his close associates were busy pursuing their own interests instead of development after being on the school's management committee for a long time. He alleged that huge amounts of money from the school were looted in collusion with the latest management committee president Sirajul Islam Swapan and temporarily suspended headmaster Mahbubur Rashid Tarek.

He said, "During the previous committee, the school's electricity bill reached up to three lakh taka in a month. We have initially learned that this money was embezzled in collusion with dishonest officials of the electricity department. Besides, no transparent account was found of the income and expenditure of the school's fixed assets."

He further alleged that the expelled headmaster would come to the school after 3 pm instead of taking regular classes and would stay busy with various activities with people chosen by the management committee till late at night. He also claimed that teachers were deprived of salaries for a long time due to admission trading, extortion of money from students who failed the SSC exam and administrative inefficiency.

However, Zahir Uddin Harun said that there have been positive changes in the school after the current management committee took charge. He said that where the electricity bill used to reach lakhs of taka, now it has come down to about 10,000 taka. Classes are being held regularly, teacher-student attendance has increased and teachers are getting their salaries on time.

Stating that the current committee is working to bring back the lost heritage of the school, he said that initiatives will be taken to develop the school's infrastructure and construct a multi-storey building with the cooperation of local MP Barkat Ullah Bulu and the administration.

Suspended headmaster Md. Mahbubur Rashid Tarek denied all the allegations against him and said, "I have been suspended on the basis of false and vague allegations. Some teachers are misleading the president of the school management committee by giving false information against me."

Attempts were made to contact the school's former managing committee president and former member of parliament Mamunur Rashid Kiran and Sirajul Islam Swapan on their mobile phones several times to get their comments on the allegations. However, no response was received as their phone numbers were switched off.

When contacted, Begumganj UNO Md. Kayesur Rahman said, "I will speak on this issue after seeing the file presented before me."

Present at the event were school guardian member Mokhlesur Rahman Chutti, teacher representative Abdul Awal, acting headmaster Mohammad Jahangir Alam and teachers of the school.