Responding on behalf of the religious affairs minister, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed on Monday asked the Ministry of Religious Affairs to conduct a mosque-wise investigation into alleged anomalies in the model mosque project.

“I would ask the Ministry of Religious Affairs today to carry out a mosque-wise investigation to determine how the construction cost of a mosque increased from Tk 13 crore to Tk 21 crore, what the total estimated cost of the mosques was and how many mosques were constructed,” he told Parliament.

Salahuddin made the remarks while replying to a supplementary question from treasury bench member Zainul Abedin Farroque (Noakhali-2) on behalf Religious Affairs Minister Kazi Shah Mofazzal Houssain Kaikobad, as he was absent.

Farroque, in his question, asked whether an investigation will be launched into alleged anomalies that occurred in the model mosque project, citing that the construction cost of Senbagh upazila model mosque, located in his constituency, increased from Tk 13 crore to Tk 21 crore.

In this regard, Deputy Speaker Kayser Kamal, who was chairing the sitting, raised concerns over the location of the Durgapur Model Mosque in his constituency.

Local people could not conveniently use the mosque as it had been built behind a large pond, requiring a bridge for access, he said.

They even nicknamed the mosque “Taj Mahal” because of the large water body in front of it, Kayser Kamal said.

Salahuddin said Farroque is a veteran parliamentarian, and he has vast experience. "What he (Farroque) has raised may be applicable elsewhere as well because the Awami fascist government undertook many projects to plunder money," he said.

He, however, said he is not claiming that the Model Mosque project involved corruption of the same scale as alleged in the Padma Bridge project.

"Model mosques are undoubtedly a good initiative, but it is a legitimate question whether the project for constructing these mosques was implemented properly and how the cost of a mosque increased from Tk 13 crore to Tk 21 crore,” the minister said.

Referring to the white paper prepared by a committee, led by economist Debapriya Bhattacharya, on the country's economy, he said mega budgets were taken for mega projects and mega development, and the project periods were extended and the estimated costs were increased several times.

"First, the estimates (of the projects) were inflated, then corruption took place, implementation periods were extended, and costs increased further," Salahuddin said.