Comitted to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 4 Num 127 Wed. October 01, 2003  
   
Sports


Unfinished Aminul affair


The investigation into the transfer drama of Bangladesh's number one goalkeeper Aminul Haque looks set for another twist as the one-member probe committee of Col (Retd.) Obayedullah Khan submitted an incomplete report to the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) yesterday.

The reason behind the submission of the unfinished report is an apparent lack of cooperation from Aminul and his club Muktijoddha Sangsad Krira Chakra.

Although, Aminul appeared once before the committee on September 24, but he could not be questioned as Khan was ill that day.

Last week an official letter was sent to Aminul to asking him to face Khan at the BFF office on September 29. But Muktijoddha informed the BFF that they could not allow Aminul to go for security reasons.

They instead suggested that the committee came to the club and complete the inquiry.

An offended Khan rejected the offer and presented a report based on whatever information he had.

"This is an insult not only for me but for the BFF also. He (Aminul) and his club can not decide where I should interview him. So I have completed my report without talking to him. I have tried my best to describe what actually happened on September 11. It would have been a lot more substantial if I had the chance to speak to Aminul," said Khan while talking to the Daily Star Sport yesterday.

The Aminul saga started when the Muktijoddha veteran suddenly disappeared on the afternoon of September 11. His elder brother Moin later in the day filed a case with Ramna Thana accusing Abahani of kidnapping Aminul. In the early hours of September 12, police carried out an unprecedented raid on Abahani club in Dhanmondi in search of Aminul but couldn't find him.

While frantic search for him was going on, the ace custodian popped up at Muktijoddha's Central Co-mmand office in Eskaton on Sep-tember 12 afternoon and claimed that he was taken to Abahani club at gun-point and later held captive in a house in Mohammedpur's Iqbal Road. Aminul also told reporters that he had fled that house by jumping from a first floor balcony.

Aminul admitted to taking a cheque of Taka nine lakhs from Abahani as advance payment with a promise that he would join them during the booters' transfer burse while making the same commitment to Muktijoddha and also taking the exact amount of money in advance.

The BFF formed the inquiry committee at the request of Abahani who felt victimised in the uncalled for episode.

Meanwhile, a top BFF official has claimed that the whole incident was orchestrated by Aminul himself.

"He couldn't possibly have jumped from the first floor without getting hurt. Even a child won't believe his story. Muktijoddha feared a ban on Aminul and that's why they didn't cooperate with the BFF and its probe committee," said the official who opted anonymity

"Our mission was to know exactly what happened on that day because it concerns a popular club (Abahani) and alleged kidnapping of a footballer. I'm not bothered with the number of cheques Aminul has received because this is a common story in our club football," said BFF general secretary Anwarul Haque Helal yesterday adding that he was outraged by the attitude shown towards the probe by the player concerned and his club.

"How could they claim that the BFF office is not a safe place? This is really insulting," said Helal.

The general secretary informed that he has not yet seen the report. It will only be opened after BFF president SA Sultan returns to Dhaka from abroad.

Abahani 's football secretary Ashrafuddin Ahmed Chunnu said that yesterday's development was unfortunate and didn't send the right signal.

"It will create a bad precedence in local football," said the hero of yesteryears.

Picture
Aminul Haque