Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has never made any statement, privately or publicly, to anyone about possibility of corruption in the Padma bridge project, let alone acting against its financing.

Yunus Centre issued a statement in this regard on Thursday.

Eurasia Diary reports that referring to the allegations made by the govenment leaders, the centre, in a rejoinder on Thursday, condemned the "false and baseless accusation" against professor Yunus.

"Professor Yunus made repeated statements beginning as early as in 2011 that he supports the Padma bridge project, stating that it is the dream of millions of people of Bangladesh, and would never stand in the way of its realisation," the centre said.

Still, it pointed out, the 2006 Nobel peace prize winner "has been accused in harshest language and terms of being behind creating false allegations of corruption in the Padma bridge project and the suspension of funds for Padma bridge."

The centre drew attention to the accusations made by the prime minister, her son and ICT advisor, a number of ministers and members of parliament (MPs) on the floor of parliament, at press conference and policy meetings and even through posts on Facebook.

The renewed criticism of Yunus from the ruling party camps was being made after a Canadian court freed key accused of the Padma bridge corruption case on Friday.

The Yunus Centre referred to and rejected another statement the prime minister made in parliament on 25 January, alleging that professor Yunus "obbied with Hillary Clinton to stop funding for Padma bridge."

"In the past professor Yunus categorically rejected the claim... Padma Bridge is a dream of the people of Bangladesh and that he would dedicate all his energy to realise this dream," the centre said in a 28 January rejoinder.

The go-ahead to start construction of the 215km Padma rail link from Dhaka to Jessore  and CRCC was commissioned to construct the line which is due to be completed by June 2022.

The project will be funded by the Bangladeshi government (Taka 29bn) and through a soft loan from China (Taka 247bn).

The project includes the construction of 66 major bridges, 244 minor bridges, 14 new stations and the procurement of 100 passenger coaches.

The line will be built for 120km/h operation, and is part of Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) project, which aims to create an integrated freight railway network across Europe and Asia.