Purbachal plots scam: ACC sues Hasina, Saima, 14 others for 'abuse of power'

Highlights:

• ACC sues Hasina, Saima and 14 others over Purbachal plots scam
• Accused include officials of Rajuk and Ministry of Housing and Public Works
• ACC alleges Saima abused Hasina's power to take allotment of Plot no-017 in Purbachal

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed a case against ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her daughter Saima Wazed Putul and 14 others over allegations of illegally acquiring government plots in the Purbachal New Town project.

The accused include officials of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) and Ministry of Housing and Public Works, the anti-graft watchdog's Director General (Prevention) Akhtar Hossain told reporters during a briefing at the ACC headquarters yesterday.

"Saima Wazed abused Sheikh Hasina's power to take the allotment of Plot 017 on Road 203 under Sector 27 of Purbachal New Town Project, despite owning a house or flat or having housing facility within the jurisdiction of Rajuk in Dhaka city, in her or her family members' names," said the ACC official.

Among the 14 other accused, four are officials from the Ministry of Housing and Public Works. They are Md Saiful Islam Sarkar, administrative officer; Purabi Goldar, senior assistant secretary; Kazi Washi Uddin, additional secretary (administration); and Md Shahid Ullah Khandaker, secretary.

The remaining 10 are officials of Rajuk. They are Md Anisur Rahman Miah, former chairman; Md Khurshid Alam, former member (state and land); Kabir Al Asad, member (administration and finance); Tonmoy Das, member (development control); Md Nasir Uddin, former member (planning); Major (Eng) Shamsuddin Ahmed Chowdhury (retd), former member (development); Md Hafizur Rahman, deputy director (estate and land-3); Habibur Rahman, deputy director (estate and land-3); Sheikh Shahinul Islam, director (estate and land-2); and Md Nurul Islam, member (estate and land).

On 26 December, the ACC launched an inquiry against Sheikh Hasina, her sister Sheikh Rehana, Hasina's son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and daughter Saima Wazed Putul, and Rehana's son Radwan Mujib Siddiq and daughter Azmina Siddique over allegations of illegally acquiring 60 kathas of government plots in Purbachal.

Talking to reporters in December last year, Akhtar Hossain had said the Sheikh family members secretly and illegally acquired six 10-katha plots on Road 203 under Sector 27, which was in the proposed Diplomatic Zone of the Purbachal New Town Project.

"They obtained the allotment of the plots by abusing their power, through various irregularities, and in collusion with high-ranking officials at Rajuk," he told journalists on 26 December.

Earlier, the High Court had formed a three-member committee to investigate irregularities in the allocation of the 60 kathas in plots. 

The committee, headed by former High Court judge Miftah Uddin Choudhury, was instructed to submit its report within four months.

Hasina and her family members took possession of the plots in 2022, after which the matter was classified as highly confidential.

According to the final allocation letter signed by Naib Ali Sharif, deputy director (estate and land-3) of Rajuk, the price was set at Tk3 lakh per katha, amounting to Tk30 lakh for each 10-katha plot. 

Hasina was allocated Plot 9 on Road 203 of Sector 27. The allocation letter in her name was issued on 3 August 2022. 

Earlier instances of allocation of public properties

This is not the first instance where Hasina allocated public properties to herself and her family members abusing her power.

At the far end of her first term as prime minister, Hasina, in 2001, abused parliament to make a law with the provision for providing all family members of "the father of the nation" with state security and houses to live in.

The then-Cabinet led by Hasina allocated herself the Ganabhaban, the office cum residence of the prime minister, for a token price.

Her sister Sheikh Rehana was also allocated a house in Dhanmondi. The Hasina government also allocated grants of Tk10 lakh for Rehana and her children, all their educational expenses at home or abroad, and a monthly allowance for each child until they reached the age of 25.

Rehana used the house to accommodate her personal staff.

Returning to power in January 2009, Hasina's government abused legislative power to make the controversial law – "Father of the Nation's Family Members Security Act, 2009".

In the 2001 law, the family members were Hasina and Rehana – two daughters of Bangabandhu who survived the 1975 assassination as they were abroad at that time.

But the 2009 law widened the definition of Bangabandhu's family members to include his two daughters, grandchildren, and in some cases, spouses or children of the grandchildren.

In May 2015, in line with the new law, her government issued a gazette ensuring lifelong foolproof state security everywhere in the country to the family members of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

In a further move, her government moved to provide Bangabandhu's family members with maximum security by the Special Security Force (SSF). The parliament in November 2021 passed a bill incorporating the provision in the SSF law of providing security to family members of Bangabandhu.

Under the 2009 controversial law – "Father of the Nation's Family Members Security Act" her government allocated Rehana a house in Gulshan.

This time around Hasina did not need to allocate any house to herself as she entered Ganabhaban after being sworn in as the prime minister in January 2009 where she continued to live until the moment she fled the country on 5 August.