The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday filed a case against Abbas and 11 engineers and officials of Rajuk and Public Works Department (PWD) in this connection.

On June 7 last year, Abbas told parliament that in accordance with the Bangladesh Abandoned Property (control, management and disposal) Order 1972, the housing ministry is authorised for controlling, managing and disposing of abandoned houses.

But before informing the House of the legal aspect, Abbas had already allowed Rajuk to initiate measures to sell the abandoned houses. Rajuk published an auction notice in different daily newspapers on April 5, 2006 for selling 10 abandoned house, sources said.

Violating the authorities' direction for selling 18 abandoned government houses, they sold the houses on a "fake" auction at much lower prices that resulted in the government's loss of Tk 127 crore 64 lakh and 29 thousand.

ACC Assistant Director Mohammad Shafiul Alam yesterday filed the case with Motijheel Police Station, accusing the 12 of embezzling government money.

The Rajuk officials are incumbent Chief Engineer Reazul Manir, Secretary Mir Mosharraf Hossain, former directors Humayun Khan and Golam Nabi, former Rajuk member and present Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary Shahid Alam, and officials Md Emdadul Hossain and Mohammad Ali.

The PWD officials are former engineer Syed Mahfuz Ahmed, former secretary SM Jafrullah, official Ziauddin Ahmed and Director of Purbachal Project Abdus Sadeque.

During his tenure as housing minister, Abbas was vocal against using residential plots for commercial purposes but remained silent when his relatives illegally committed the same offence.

In response to a lawmaker's question in parliament, Abbas on June 7, 2006 said there is a legal provision for taking punitive action if anyone uses residential plots for commercial purposes.

But relatives of Abbas built automobile workshops on a large piece of land at Shajahanpur allotted to Abbas' family for residential purpose.

Abbas allegedly influenced the Rajuk authorities in 1996 to divide a children's park into plots and allot them to his brothers, sisters and other relatives as persons affected earlier by different government development projects elsewhere in the city.