Parliamentary body asks to investigate ‘irregularities' in land acquisition for PBI office in Cox’s Bazar

A parliamentary body today formed a three-member sub-committee to investigate the alleged irregularities in acquisition of one acre or 100 decimals of land to build a Police Bureau of Intelligence office in Cox's Bazar.

The parliamentary standing committee on land ministry came up with the decision at a meeting at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.

Ruling Awami League MP Habibur Rahman from Bogura-5 was made convener of the sub-committee while two AL MPs-Monoranjan Shil Gopal from Dinajpur-1 and Umme Fatema Nazma Begum, a lawmaker from reserved seats for women in parliament, were made members of it, Mokbul Hossain, chief of the parliamentary watchdog, told The Daily Star.

The sub-committee was asked to submit its report before the main committee within a month.

Emerging from the meeting, Mokbul Hossain said, The Daily Star ran a report in May on the widespread irregularities in acquisition of lands to build a PBI office in Kolatoli Bypass Road area, adjacent to the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar highway.

"After going through the report, the committee thinks that huge incidents of forgery took place in the land acquisition process. We came to know that huge money was misappropriated through forgery in land acquisition process," Mokbul Hossain also said.

Mokbul also said actual victims didn't get the money while a syndicate embezzled huge amount of money through forgery during the land acquisition process.

Land minister and committee members Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, Monoranjan Shil Gopal, Mohammad Habibur Rahman, Mohammad Shahjahan Mia, Umme Fatema Nazma Begum and Mohammad Aminul Islam, among others took part in the meeting.

The Committee recommends that necessary steps be taken for speedy transfer of all the employees of the Office of the Assistant Commissioner (Land) who have completed three years of service.

The meeting recommended taking necessary steps to monitor whether the actual allottees of Guchhgram project are living in Guchhgram and to investigate whether lands after taking lease for agriculture usage are being used for other purposes.