Reign of fear in Faridpur

Their names had become synonymous with fear.

From tender manipulation to extortion and land grabbing, the two Faridpur brothers -- Sajjad Hossain Barkat and Imtiaz Hasan Rubel -- had unleashed a reign of terror in the district until their arrests last year.

The brothers established a powerful syndicate which would brutalise anyone getting in their way.

This syndicate used to control and manipulate all tenders in the district allegedly under the direct patronage of Khandaker Mohtesam Hossain Babar, younger brother of former Awami League minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, and AHM Fuad, assistant personal secretary of Mosharraf.

They would not even spare other local AL leaders and businessmen, if found hurting their interests.

Toufique Hossain was one such contractor who fell afoul of the brothers.

An enlisted contractor in the district, he submitted tender documents for repairing three buildings of Faridpur Medical College in 2018.

He won Public Works Department contracts worth Tk 15 lakh in total. But this irked the Barkat-Rubel syndicate, and Toufique, also a former vice-president of the district unit Chhatra League, had to pay the price.

He said he was beaten up mercilessly by members of the syndicate on May 24, 2018 and also falsely implicated in a murder case.

"My only fault was I participated in the bidding ignoring the unwritten law that only they or those who pay them commission can participate in the bidding in the district," he told The Daily Star recently.

A CID probe revealed that the Barkat-Rubel syndicate controlled all the tenders of roads and highways, public works, LGED ministry, health department, BRTA, the municipality, zila parishad, Water Development Board, and the medical college.

They illegally took commissions from various haats (markets) and district land registrar's offices and extorted money in the transport sector.

The syndicate earned thousands of crores of taka under the shelter of Babar and Fuad, the CID mentioned in the charge sheet of a money laundering case filed against Barkat and Rubel last year.

"It was not possible for anyone to do any work without giving them commission," said Alim Haidar Tuhin, a former vice-president of Faridpur district BCL unit.

However, the situation changed significantly after the arrest of the brothers, with their patrons and cohorts coming under immense pressure.

Faruq Hossain, executive engineer of LGED, they were now noticing that the number of tender submissions and contractors has increased since the arrest of Barkat and Rubel.

"We have already cancelled 41 work orders of Barkat and Rubel."

Barkat, general secretary of Faridpur town AL, and Rubel, former the president of Faridpur Press Club, along with seven others were arrested on June 7 last year for their alleged involvement in the attack on the house of Faridpur AL President Subal Chandra on May 16, 2020.

Later on June 26, SM Miraj Al Mahmud, a CID inspector, lodged a case with Kafrul Police Station against the two brothers among others under the Money Laundering Act.

Local sources say it was the attack on the house of Faridpur AL president that turned things around.

The 10 charge-sheeted accused in the case, including Barkat and Rubel, own land, houses, flats, and personal vehicles.

They amassed such a vast amount of wealth through tender manipulation, land grabbing, lobbying, extortion and commission trade in the last decade, according to local politicians and an intelligence report.

Babar, vice-president of Faridpur district Awami League, and Fuad, also former convener of Faridpur district Jubo League, were among eight other charge-sheeted accused.

BABAR'S RISE

Local party leaders said Babar, 63, who is the third accused in the charge sheet in the money laundering case, was never involved in AL politics earlier. After his brother Mosharraf became a minister in 2009, he virtually took control of Faridpur AL.

In his confessional statement, Rubel referred to Babar as Babar chacha (uncle) and said, "I have paid Babar chacha Tk 1 crore to get the work order for constructing the district council auditorium."

Rubel also confessed that Babar took Tk 40 lakh for the contract of the upazila administration building construction and another Tk 40 lakh for the jute research market, according to CID investigators.

Bipul Ghosh, former general secretary of Faridpur district AL and former central committee member of the party, said Babar was chiefly behind criminal activities like land grabbing and plundering other people's properties, which had been going on in Faridpur since 2009.

In the 2008 general election, Babar had worked for the BNP candidate and used to ride a 50cc motorcycle. Yet he later took control of Faridpur AL and started illegal activities which dented the party's image, said a number of local leaders.

Before the election, Babar was an employee of a private company in Dhaka. In 2008, he returned to Faridpur and started a poultry firm with a bank loan he took mortgaging his ancestral land.

According to an intelligence agency report, Babar has built a palatial house on five acres of land at a cost of around Tk 10 crore in Faridpur town. He also amassed vast wealth in several areas of Faridpur town and on the outskirts, said the report.

CID sources said Babar has a home in Australia and businesses in Singapore. His portion of the ill-gotten gains was laundered abroad, including to these two countries, they added.

The Daily Star was unable to get a comment from Babar as he neither received calls nor responded to text messages.

Asked about the allegations, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, also lawmaker from Faridpur-3, told this paper on March 3, "I have no idea at all about how they made money. They got work orders through tender. I did not give them the work as it is not the job of a lawmaker or a minister. It is the job of government officials."

About his brother's alleged involvement in tender manipulation and extortion, he said Babar neither signed any documents nor was he involved in any such activities.

FUAD'S 'HELMET GANG'

AHM Fuad, the APS of Khandaker Mosharraf, allegedly took 15 percent commission from those whom he helped win work orders from the Public Works Department, Power Development Board, and the education engineering, public health engineering, and the roads and highways departments.

He had a "helmet gang" which would punish anyone going against him or submitting a tender without his permission or without giving him commission.

He has five flats at Sumon Tower in Charkamalapur area in Faridpur town, two flats on the 10th and 11th floors of Zaman Tower in Jhiltuli Mahalla, one at Dhanmondi and another at Siddheswari in Dhaka, according to the intelligence report. Besides, he owns a huge swathe of land in Faridpur.

Fuad could not be reached as his cellphone was found switched off.

OTHER ACCUSED

Before the 2008 election, none of the 10 charge-sheeted accused had any mentionable wealth.

Former Faridpur town Jubo League president Khandakar Nazmul Islam Levi had leaned towards the centre of power after Khandaker Mosharraf became a minister.

He got involved in tender manipulation and land grabbing by engaging in the syndicate along with Barkat, Rubel, and Fuad.

According to the intelligence report, Levi had several flats and a large plot of land in Faridpur town. He also has three houses in Dhaka, and Gazaria Haat has been leased out in his name.

Asibur Rahman Farhan, former general secretary of Faridpur town unit Jubo League, and Fahad bin Wazed Fahim, general secretary of Faridpur District Swechchhasebak League, used to participate in the processions and rallies of Khandaker Mosharraf.

Of the three, Levi and Fahim are now behind bars.  

Farhan has four flats in Dhaka's Mirpur and has about six acres of land in Faridpur town and Bakhunda area, the intelligence report says. He also runs a Chinese restaurant in the town.

He built a two-storey house south of Faridpur Kotwali Police Station on land he leased from the municipality.

Fahim owns at least five flats in Faridpur town and two business firms called Digital Press and Fahima Construction.

He was assigned by the syndicate leaders to control tenders of the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation, Water Development Board, and PDB, according to locals and the intelligence agency report.

Former joint convener of Faridpur town Jubo League Kamrul Hasan David, district Jubo League joint convener Mohammad Ali Minar, and Faridpur town Jubo League joint convenor Tariqul Islam alias Nasim are among the charge-sheeted accused.

Local sources say all three were members of Fuad's "helmet gang". Their job was to guard the tender boxes in various government departments and prevent anyone other than their own men from submitting tenders.

They would hack or beat up their critics and rivals on Fuad's instructions. The amount of their wealth could not be known from local sources, though the CID in the charge sheet mentioned they also got a share of the illegally earned money of Barkat and Rubel.

Apart from the 10 charge-sheeted accused, CID also found the names of 42 others who have links with the syndicate but did not press charges against them due to lack of evidence. An investigator said an investigation is going on against them and if they get evidence, a supplementary charge sheet will be given against them.