“Why Tk 70,000 needed for a Tk 1,150 service?”, tehsildar issued notice after video goes viral
A tehsildar (revenue official) at the Char Montaz Union Land Office in Patuakhali's Rangabali upazila has been accused of demanding extra money beyond the government-prescribed fee for land mutation or opening a new ledger (khatian).
The accused, Mohammad Abdus Sobahan, is posted at the said Union Land Office. A video allegedly showing him demanding additional money from a service recipient has gone viral on social media.
In the video, Abdus Sobahan is seen demanding Tk 70,000 from a service recipient to mutate land or open new ledgers against four separate land deeds.
The service recipient is heard objecting, saying, “Why would Tk 70,000 be needed for a service that costs Tk 1,150? I would have to sell the land to pay this much money.”
In response, the tehsildar explains the costs associated with eight different desks, including the surveyor and kanungo (revenue official).
Later, an agreement is reached to open a single ledger against two deeds for Tk 20,000. Abdus Sobahan then takes Tk 10,000 in cash from the service recipient.
When the service recipient proposes paying the remaining Tk 10,000 through bKash, the tahsildar objects and expresses his preference to take it in cash.
The service recipient, Mohiuddin Khandakar (42), is a resident of Char Montaz Union in Rangabali upazila.
Mohiuddin told Prothom Alo that he went to the union land office’s tehsildar Mohammad Abdus Sobahan to have land under four separate deeds into a single ledger. At that time, the official demanded Tk 70,000 from him instead of the government-prescribed fee of Tk 1,150.
Mohiuddin stated that after some negotiations, a deal was settled at Tk 20,000 with the accused land official, including the government fee.
It was decided that he would pay the land official Tk 10,000 in cash in advance and the rest after the work was done.
Afterward, he was harassed for several months and eventually, a single ledger was created for two deeds, leaving out the other two. He was also pressured to pay Tk 1,150 as a fee for the government revenue fee.
According to sources at the revenue branch of the district administration, land mutation (namjari) is the process of updating or including the new owner's name by dropping the previous owner's name in the government record or ledger after legally changing land ownership. It is also known as mutation. The government-mandated fee for this is Tk 1,150.
However, Mohammad Abdus Sobahan has directly denied the allegation of taking a bribe from the service recipient. He claimed that Mohiuddin Khandaker had never visited him nor had any land-related documents been submitted to him.
Nazmul Hasan, Upazila Nirbahi Officer holding additional charge of the Rangabali Upazila Land Office, stated that after watching the video on social media, a show-cause notice was issued to the tehsildar asking for an explanation.
He told Prothom Alo that preparations are underway to compile a report on the allegations and send it to the deputy commissioner's office.