Kamran poorer, but his wife richer

Two-time former mayor of Sylhet and Awami League-endorsed candidate for the upcoming Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) election Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran has lost wealth in the last five years, but his wife has more than made up for it despite having no mentionable income source, according to the Halafnama (affidavit) submitted by the candidate along with his nomination papers to the Election Commission (EC) for the upcoming SCC polls.

The curious phenomenon was found by comparing his current affidavit to the previous one provided to EC before 2013 SCC election.

AL candidate Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran showed Tk 2,24,00,731 worth movable and immovable assets under his name, while assets of his wife, Asma Kamran, amount to Tk 5,75,14,921. However, the candidate did not cite any income sources of his wife in the affidavit.

In his 2013 Halafnama, Kamran listed all his assets at a value of Tk 5,16,12,612, while his wife's assets were valued at Tk 3,10,53,589.

Badar Uddin Kamran's assets include Tk 4,63,552 cash, Tk 1,55,42,929 worth of foreign currency, Tk 1,50,000 worth jewellery, Tk 2,46,400 worth home electronics and Tk 3,87,000 worth of furniture, as well as Tk 46,20,850 worth of land and a house valued at Tk 10,00,000. Kamran also mentioned his annual income from businesses and stocks to be Tk 23,91,403, and a liability to bank at Tk 68,80,282.

Meanwhile, Asma Kamran's assets include a house valued at Tk 3,13,96,589, non-agricultural land worth Tk 31,04,701, foreign currency worth Tk 2,05,94,200, cash worth Tk 84,331, various bonds worth Tk 14,50,000, a car at Tk 6,50,000, gold worth Tk 1,40,000 and furniture and electronics worth Tk 95,000.

Asked about the issue, the mayoral candidate said: “Most of my wife's assets are inherited from her father.” He also added that his wife is joint owner of his businesses.

ARIFUL LISTS LARGE BANK DEBTS

Meanwhile, according to BNP candidate Ariful Haque Chowdhury's Halafnama, his movable properties are worth Tk 1,94,98,832. Of which, he owns Tk. 19,18,967 cash, 6096.49 British Pounds, 5306.12 US dollars, Tk 79,36,913 fixed deposit in banks, stocks worth Tk. 65,38,600, prize bonds of Tk 13,15,275, vehicles worth Tk. 3,86,000, home electronics worth Tk 1,50,000, furniture worth 1 lakh and gold jewellery of Tk 30,000.

He also showed immovable property of 8.53 acres arable land, 5.53 acres other type of land, three semi-concrete houses and two concrete houses, but did not mention their value.

He mentioned his annual income from different businesses, stocks and agriculture at Tk 7,58,120.

However, he showed two bank loans in his affidavit, one worth Tk 1,77,82,250 with Pubali Bank and another of Tk 15,98,053 with City Bank Ltd.

In his 2013 election Halafnama, Ariful had showed around Tk three crore in movable and immovable property.

Ariful Haque Chowdhury said, “The extended amount of property comes from the debt, as my family had to take some loan from banks to run businesses when I was in jail for more than two years. Our real family condition has become poorer as we have been indebted more.”

In the Halafnama, Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran said there are no criminal cases against him, as he was acquitted from four cases earlier.

Ariful Haque Chowdhury is now under trial in seven criminal cases, and was acquitted of two cases earlier.

In the submitted Halafnama, Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran shows his educational qualification as higher secondary, while Ariful Haque Chowdhury declared himself 'self educated'.

Alimuzzaman, returning officer of the SCC Poll and regional election officer in Sylhet, said the candidates' nomination papers are being scrutinised, and the process will end today.