Early last year, Rajuk floated tender notices in a scheme to sell 29 abandoned properties, hoping to use the funds to construct residences for government officials in the city.

The properties originally belonged to Pakistani nationals who fled the country following independence in 1971. The government later declared the properties 'abandoned' and used them for accommodating its officials.

Nineteen of the properties were sold in the process, and the authorities now plan to float fresh tender notices to dispose of the remaining ten, which are located in Gulshan and Banani.

"The ministry has approved fresh invitation for tenders and we shall soon go public about it," Rajuk Chairman Shahid Alam said.

Rajuk officials, including the chairman, claimed that each property was sold for more than its 'book value,' an amount pre-calculated on the basis of market value and inflation and measured in terms of katha, a unit of land equaling 720 square feet. But sources disclosed that in some cases the entire tender process was 'tightly controlled' by several influential individuals. For instance, an official source, commenting on at least two prime properties in Gulshan, said, "Banks were manipulated to restrict the number of schedules, allowing only the selected individuals to buy the schedules for bidding."

Rajuk Chairman Shahid Alam said that in total they received 288 bids for the plots, all of which were sold for prices ranging between Tk 21 lakh and Tk 29 lakh per katha depending on the location. He claimed the prices were higher than market price. However, the actual market price for plots located in these areas ranges from Tk 25 lakh to 40 lakh per katha, depending on location. Four years ago, in fact, Rajuk auctioned a plot near the Gulshan roundabout for Tk 40 lakh per katha. "Those who have bought the plots are now saying that it would have cost them less if they bought similar plots from the market," Shahid Alam said.

Sources in Rajuk however said that on receipt of the offers, they divided the list into three categories. One category contained the names of 17 people who bid more than 'book value,' the second those who bid just below the 'book value,' and the third those who did not qualify at all because their bids were too low. The list with the three categories was then sent to the Ministry of Housing and Public Works, which decided to include 'two individuals' from the second list and asked Rajuk to complete formalities for the sale of 19 plots.

The two names were a cause of consternation for Rajuk officials. "When the ministry asked us to include the two names from the second list, we had no idea who those individuals were," said a Rajuk source. Later it was alleged that one of the individuals was the Prime Minister's Personal Secretary, Mohammad Shamsul Alam, who bought a 13-katha plot in the name of his brother-in-law for Tk 2,77,87,600. The Principal Secretary of the Prime Minister's office later served Shamsul Alam a show-cause on January 30, asking him for an explanation as to how he obtained such a prime property.

When asked for a list of beneficiaries in the auction, Rajuk's Estate Department refused to provide the list or disclose the total amount received so far.