A Chittagong court today sentenced to four years of imprisonment to sacked Bangladesh Railway general manager Yusuf Ali Mridha and two other railway officials in graft charges involving a recruitment scandal five years ago.Officials said Chittagong Divisional Special Judge Mir Ruhul Amin handed them down the sentences and simultaneously fined them TK 20,000 each saying, in default, they would remain behind the bar for six more months in default.Railway’s the then eastern zone general manager Mridha and suspended Senior Welfare Officer Golam Kibria, suspended Additional Chief Engineer (mechanical) Hafizur Rahman were under a charge brought by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC).In a dramatic episode police confiscated a huge amount of money from a vehicle carrying Mridha and the then assistant private secretary to former Railways Minister Suranjit Sengupta on April 12, 2014 unfolding a scandal suggesting the money was taken as bribes from service seekers in the state-run facility.ACC lawyer advocate Mezbahuddin Chowdhury said however, five appointment aspirants for the two posts too were previously made accused in the case but the court acquitted them of charges.Mridha was suspended subsequently and was sent to jail as he surrendered on March 3, 2014.ACC filed a case with city’s Kotwali thana on September 13, 2012 againstMridha and five others for their alleged involvement in graft in appointment of Fuel Checker and Assistant Chemist post of the railway.A total of 37 prosecution witnesses testified before the court.A Dhaka court on August 3, last year also awarded Mridha three years of jail term on charges of possessing wealth beyond the known sources of income.Source: BSS