National Board of Revenue Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Munim has refused to comment on the son of an agency official allegedly purchasing an expensive sacrificial goat with tax funds.

Asked about the allegation, he said at a seminar on Thursday:

“This isn’t a question at all and I’m not going to answer it.”

The Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission organised the seminar titled “Bangladesh Trade Policy; Evaluation, Current State and Future Directions.” State Minister for Commerce Ahsanul Haque Titu was the chief guest at the seminar.

A young man called Mushfiqur Rahman Ifat caught the social media spotlight when he bought a goat for Tk 1.5 million from Sadeeq Agro as a sacrifice for Eid-ul-Azha.

He spoke to different television channels about sacrificing the goat from his Dhanmondi residence on Eid day.

Netizens questioned the source of income required to buy a sacrificial goat for such an exorbitant price.

On social media, Ifat introduces himself as the son of Dr Md Motiur Rahman, the president of the NBR’s Customs, Excise and VAT Appellate Tribunal.

Earlier, Motiur worked at the Bangladesh Commercial Council in Brussels, Chattogram Customs and Large Taxpayer Unit (LTU) and other places.

However, revenue officer Motiur denied that Ifat was his son in an interview broadcast on the private TV channel Somoy TV.

The criticism initially poured in when Ifat paid Tk 100,000 in advance for the goat before Eid.

But he did not end up buying the animal. Sadeeq Agro owner Mohammad Imran Hossain told reporters that Ifat booked the goat after paying an advance of Tk 100,000, but never completed the purchase.

Feni-2 MP Nizam Uddin Hazari further stirred the pot, when he told Independent Television that Ifat was in fact Motiur’s son.

‘‘Ifat is the son of Motiur Rahman and his second wife,” Hazari said.

Motiur’s first wife Laila Kaniz was a former government officer in the education cadre. She resigned and entered politics. Currently, she is the Raipura Upazila Parishad chairman.