Dhirendra Debnath Shambhu grabbed commission from all projects

Over the past 16 years there was not a single sector from which he didn't extract money, be it for appointments, rural infrastructure maintenance (TR), Food for Work programmes or development projects. He would resort to devious means to grab other people's land and register it as his own. He would misuse his power to take over government land and then develop it with government funds.

The person against whom all these allegations are levelled is Dhirendra Debnath Shambhu, five times member of parliament from the Barguna-1 seat (Sadar-Amtali-Taltali). He was the all-in-all of Barguna district Awami League for 30 years. In this span of time he had been the general secretary and president of the district unit at various times. He would create a grouping by placing his relations in various party posts, leaving the others sidelined.

According to his affidavit submitted in the 2008 ninth Jatiya Sangsad (national parliament) election, Shambu's income was Tk 210,000 (Tk 2 lakh 10 thousand) and he had Tk 300,000 (Tk 3 lakh) deposited in the bank. His assets included land worth Tk 5.7 million (Tk 57 lakh), a one-storey house and two corrugated tin houses. In his wife's name there was Tk 1.2 million (Tk 12 lakh) deposited in the bank and a flat. In a matter of 15 years, according to his affidavit for the 12th Jatiya Sangsad election, his income was over Tk 5.5 million (Tk 55 lakh). He had over Tk 30 million (Tk 3 crore) in his own name in the bank and over Tk 1.5 million (Tk 15 lakh) in his wife's account. He had over Tk 6.7 million (Tk 67 lakh) deposited in his own name in savings certificates and fixed deposits and Tk 7.7 million (Tk 76 lakh) invested similarly in his wife's name. He owned two cars costing over Tk 10 million (Tk 1 crore). He had land, both agricultural and non-agricultural land, worth over Tk 1 million (Tk 1 crore) in his name and two flats in his wife's name. Locals claim, however, he actually owns much more property.

Shambhu, it is alleged, abused his power to take over land acquired by the government in front of the Barguna Sadar upazila parishad. He took over almost half a large pond of the Water Development Board (WDB). This land amounts to about 43 decimals and is worth a few million. He filled up that portion of the pond and used the pourashava money to set up a building there along with a playground, a road and drainage system, as well as lampposts. He then arranged for an allocation of Tk 11.5 million (Tk 1 crore 15 lakh) from the zila parishad for the beautification of the remaining part of the pond. He used his own contractors for the work and pocketed a large sum for himself. He took an allocation of Tk 231,833 (Tk 2 lakh 31 thousand 833) from a TR project in 2022 for the same work. He was so attached to this complex that when he came to the area, he would stay there rather than his own home at Amtalapar.

Inquiries at Barguna WDB revealed that in 1961-62 this land in front of the upazila parishad had been acquired in order to construct an embankment. Later the land was excavated to make a pond there for the parishad's mosque.

Records of the district administration and the Water Development Board show that in 2009 Shambu claimed that the acquired land belonged to his mother and submitted an application to the deputy commissioner (DC) asking for the land to be returned.  Based on this application, 43 per cent of the land was handed over to him in 2012. According to the Land Acquisition Act, if land remains unused, the original owners or the successors of the original owners can take back the acquired land. However, there is a clause for the compensation money to be repaid to the government. An application for this purpose has to be submitted to the head of the concerned agency. The agency will then send a no-objection certificate (NOC) to the DC office. The DC will send this to the land ministry. After the comments are sent back from there, the DC will take the compensation money back from the applicant and order for the land to be released.

Persons involved in this process say that this is a long-winded process, taking between 8 to 10 years. But Dhirendranath Debnath Shambhu got the land in a matter of three years.

However, regarding the return of acquired land to the original owner, the High Court Division of the Supreme Court gave a decision in 1998 and the Appellate Division a separate decision in 2002. The decisions called for a stay on claims made by the owners for the return of the land. But this was not carried out. On 16 June 2010 the secretary of the land ministry sent a letter to all the DCs and heads of the land acquisition offices around the country, instructing them to follow the court orders. This was not done in the case of Shambhu.

In a letter of the Barguna WDB office regarding Shambhu, it was seen that the WDB executive engineer at the time wrote to the DC saying that Shambhu's land has been handed over to him. However, there was no land release order, NOC or any other documents in this regard at the WDB office.

Executive engineer of Barguna WEB, Md Rakib, speaking to Prothom Alo, said the matter was not carried out by WDB, but by the DC's office and that was why they had no files in this regard. When it was pointed out that WDB's NOC was required, he said, "I do not know about this matter."
When asked about the matter, the Barguna DC, Mohammad Shafiul Alam said, "I am new here. I have no idea about the matter. I will have to inquire about it."

The house surrounded by a high wall at the north side of the Town Hall bridge in Barguna Sadar, will catch anyone's eye. Dhirendra Debnath Shambhu is the owner of this house built on 21 decimals of the land. One decimal of the land is in his name and the remaining 20 decimals are in the names of his two daughters. It is alleged that he used his clout to buy the land at a cost much lower than the actual price of the land. Bidhan Chandra Sheel was the original owner of the land. When asked if he was paid a fair price, he remained silent. He just said, "It is very painful."

Shambhu took over 5 decimals of land at Chowra mouza at a perfunctory price from Amtali pourashava's former mayor and upazila Awami League president Matiar Rahman. Matiar Rahman said the former MP has taken the land from him for a pittance to make a personal office for himself.
There are allegations against Shambu and his son Sunam Debnath using their power to occupy 14 acres of land of khatian 150 in Boro Nishanbari mouza of Taltali upazila. One of the owners, Faruk Hossain, said, "We had bought that land in an auction. Someone filed a case against the auction in court. We were awarded the land through the court ruling. Around 2021-22, three persons including Shambhu and his son made out a deed for 14 acres of land, making a member of the Rakhine community the owner of the land. At present the land is in our control."

There are allegations that Shambhu took over 12 decimals of land acquired by WDB in the Old Launch Ghat area of Amtali municipal town. He claimed the land belonged to his father. WDB executive engineer Md Rakib said, 6 decimals of land had been taken on lease in 2013 for a poultry farm. It was a three-year lease and has not been renewed. The land will be relinquished from the former member of parliament.

Shambhu allegedly misappropriated a large chunk of the funds allocated over the past 16 years under the projects of TR, Food for Work and 40-day work programmes. Only superficial work was done on the projects.
Sources of the district relief and rehabilitation office said that in 2021 and 2022 a total of Tk 33 million (Tk 3 crore 30 lakh) was allocated for 432 projects, large and small. Shambhu pocketed most of the funds. For the work, Tk 20,000 was collected per every Tk 100,000 for him.

According to the records, in the 2020-21 fiscal, a total of Tk 1 crore 14 thousand 666 was allocated for 181 projects in three installments under special MP's allocation in three upazilas of the Barguna-1 constituency. While some work was done on 18 projects, the funds were all collected though no work was done at all on the other projects.

Several local persons say that persons picked by Shambhu were placed in charge of these projects. Basically they were given this work to ensure the money was properly shared. An audio went viral of the chairman of Barguna Sadar union parishad at the time, Golam Ahad. He was heard to be saying that half of the allocated funds had to be given to Shambhu in order to get the work. The remaining money was shared among those placed in charge of the projects. No funds were left to do the actual work.

In the 2021-22 fiscal, allocations were made to Shambhu for 280 projects under the TR, Food for Work, and Food for Money programmes. Of this, Tk 17,500,999 (Tk 1 crore 75 lakh 999) was allocated for the TR project and Tk 13,900,924 (Tk 1 crore 39 lakh 924) for the Food for Work and Food for Money projects. The funds were collected but no work done. A total of Tk 200,000 was collected for a sandfill at the Amtali Government College grounds, but the work was not carried out. The same thing happened in the case of Nurul Huq Secondary School and Matali Secondary School grounds.

At a press briefing held in Barguna on 3 September 2018, the district Awami League general secretary Jahangir Kabir brought about 24 allegations of corruption against Shambhu. One of the major allegations was about appointment trade. It was said that Shambhu had collected Tk 600,000 from each person for appointment as primary school night guard-cum-office assistant. He took Tk 1 million (Tk 10 lakh) reach for recommending persons to be appointed as police constable. He would take from Tk 700,000 to Tk 800,000 for a teacher's appointment at secondary schools. He would take Tk 500,000 to Tk 700,000 for appointments to the district hospital.

These allegations were proven to be true when investigating the complaints. A certain Anwar Hossain of Barguna Sadar complained, "The school committee president took Tk 1.3 million (Tk 13 lakh) from me to give to the MP for a job at the Garjanbunia Secondary School. Later they took a higher sun from someone else and he got the job. I didn't get my money back."

Dhirendra placed his relatives in various posts of the party to ensure his control. His wife Madhabi Debnath was the president of district Mahila Awami League, his only son Sunam Debnath was the district Awami League science and technology affairs secretary. His son's father-in-law Amol Talukdar was district Awami League treasurer, his son's uncle-in-law Subal Talukdar was publicity secretary.

He made his younger brother-in-law Siddiqur Rahman Sadar upazila Awami League's president and UP chairman. Siddiqur is one of the main accused in the murder of Jubo League leader Badsha. He is alleged to have created a criminal gang to carry out all sorts of crimes, tender manipulations and so on.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Barguna Sadar upazila Awami League joint secretary Maruf Hossain Mridha said, "Shambhu overlooked the dedicated party leaders and activists, and placed his own relatives and followers in various posts. In the local elections he would use independent candidates to defeat the party candidates in order to retain control. If anyone protested, they would face dire consequences."

He became controversial among the local people because of his corruption and nepotism, but Awami League nominated him in the 12th national parliament election. The party also had three independent candidates and he faced a dismal defeat. He came up third in the number of votes received. After the Awami League government fell on 5 August this year, he and his family went into hiding. On Monday night he was arrested by Dhaka Metropolitan Police in Uttara of the capital. He was shown to be arrested in the case filed in New Market police station of the capital for the killing of businessman Abdul Wadud. The court yesterday, Tuesday, approved for a six-day remand for him to be interrogated.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is investigating a previous charge against him of illegally amassing wealth of Tk 5 billion (Tk 500 crore). Deputy commissioner of ACC  Sylvia Ferdous on 10 September issued a letter seeking details of the wealth of Dhirendranath Debnath Shambhu, wife Madhabi Debnath, son Sunam Debnath and daughter-in-law Kaspia Talukdar.