Hasina, Rehana, relatives own 4 bungalows in Gazipur

It is a pastoral setting, with tree-lined driveways. In the midst of this is a huge two-storey bungalow and concrete stairs leading down to a pond.

This is “Tulip’s Territory”, a bungalow in the Kanaiya area, 10 kilometres off Gazipur town. It was named after Tulip Siddiq, who resigned as the UK treasury minister recently.

According to the documents, the house is owned by Shafique Ahmed Siddique, who is the husband of Sheikh Rehana, younger sister of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, and the father of Tulip Siddiq.

At least four bungalows have been found in Gazipur that are owned by the family members and relatives of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana.

Local people also said family members and relatives of Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana, as well as influential people often visited those bungalows, especially during winter.

They had sometimes seen cars with national flags come to these houses and law enforcement agencies beefed up surveillance in the surrounding area at that time. Sometimes these cars left the houses at dawn. Sometimes they had been seen for a day or two.

Sheikh Hasina, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and daughter Saima Wazed alias Putul and Sheikh Rehana, her son Radwan Mujib Siddiq alias Bobby and daughter Azmina Siddique Ruponti are owners of one of four bungalows. Shafique Ahmed Siddique, husband of Sheikh Rehana, owns one. Major General (retd) Tariq Ahmed Siddique, defence adviser to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and brother-in-law of Sheikh Rehana, is the owner of remaining two bungalows.

Locals know family members of Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana are the owners of these houses. Prothom Alo conducted an investigation and obtained the documents related to the properties.

According to documents obtained from the local land office, these four bungalows are located in a total land of 816 decimals or 25 bighas. But the local people claimed the amount of land will be four times more than the amount the documents show.

Considering the average mouza land prices, the 25-bigha land is worth about Tk 490 million but locals said the current market prices will be close to 1 billion.

Madhab Chandra Mandal is a school teacher from the Kanaiya area. He told Prothom Alo that the market price of the land is about two times more than mouza prices.

A student-people uprising ousted the autocrat Awami League government on 5 August 2024. Then prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana fled to India. Their family members are currently living aboard.

The Anti-Corruption Commission is coming after the assets owned by the family members of both sisters. The watchdog also sent letters to the Gazipur district administration seeking information on this.

When asked, Gazipur additional deputy commissioner (revenue and local administration) Mohammad Kaysar Khasru told Prothom Alo on Sunday afternoon, “ACC sought information on the lands owned by Sheikh Hasina and her family. We have already sought information from the officers of all land offices in the district. It will be certain how much land they own, once we receive their reports.”

With a rural environment, Kanaiya falls within the Gazipur City Corporation. There are brick-built or semi-pucca houses but many locals still live in mud houses. Kanaiya is one of several places in Gazilpur where most resorts are located.

This correspondent visited Tulip’s Territory on 2 February afternoon. There is a duplex house and several tin-roofed houses there. There are marks of vandalism everywhere while parts of the duplex house are burnt. No one guards the house. There are two boats in a large pond.

A certain Rafiqul Islam was standing near the bungalow. He told Prothom Alo a group of people vandalised the house just after the fall of the government on 5 August. None of the owners’ people or security guards has been seen since then. There was an elaborate security measure before that. Asked whose house it is, he said, “Everyone knows it is the house of Sheikh Rehana.”

“We saw law enforcement agencies providing huge security to these houses during winter every year. We had seen vehicles with a national flag entering the area,” he added.

Documents from the Gazipur municipality land office show land mutation documents were issued for 263 decimals (about eight bighas) of land of Tulip’s Territory. It shows the land is registered under the name of Shafique Ahmed Siddique but mutation has not been issued for the inside area of Tulip’s Territory. So, it could not be learned whether Shafique Ahmed Siddique owns the land.

The territory of Tulip is demarcated with brick boundary walls and barbed wires. Local people said the amount of land within the demarcated area is more than eight bighas of land.

Speaking about the allegation, officials of the local land office say maybe they bought the land later but the mutation has not been completed.

Sheikh Hasina and her family have a bungalow adjacent to the Dhaka-Tangail highway on the east side of the National Scout Training Centre in the Telirchala area of Mouchak. The area is just 13 km off Gazipur town. A number of industrial factories are there in the area.

Local land office sources said a local person handed over ownership of the land to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1970. Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Rehana, Sajeeb Wazed, Saima Wazed, Radwan Siddiq and Azmina Siddiq inherited the land.

As per the documents, the amount of the land is 297 decimals (nine bighas). The local people, however, claimed the actual amount of the land is nearly 15 bighas.

The affidavit Sheikh Hasina submitted to the election commission (EC) before the 12th parliamentary elections, widely known as “dummy vote”, reveals that the ousted prime minister mentioned about owning 15 bighas of agricultural land, which is located in Tungipara, Gopalganj, Gazipur and Rangpur.

A visit to Telirchala on 2 February morning shows the bungalow is encircled by a boundary wall. There is a duplex building, a pond with stone steps, a swimming pool, and open spaces are there inside. There was no name on the main entrance of the establishment while the entrance was broken. Several children were playing inside while some elderly people were chatting there.

They said this house was also vandalised and set on fire on 5 August. Since then the house has been lying abandoned. The vandalised main entrance was closed with a brick-built wall at night but that was demolished by some unknown persons.

Local person Almas Hossain was found near the bungalow area. He told Prothom Alo stringent security measures used to be taken several times a year earlier. People used to say that Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana have come here. “We couldn’t even go near the house at that time. Strict security was in place even if they were not there.”

Local sources said former chairman of Kaliakoir upazila, Selim Azad, used to look after the bungalow. He has been hiding since 5 August last year.

Another bungalow is situated in the Faokal area of Gazipur town, near The Security Printing Corporation (Bangladesh) Limited. Earlier, local people used to know the house as “Daktar bari (physician’s house)”. The documents showed Tarique Ahmed Siddique is the owner of the house.

A visit to the bungalow on 1 February shows the house is surrounded with a boundary wall and the main entrance does not have any name on it. The gate has been closed with a brick wall recently. Climbing on a nearby tree, it was seen that there is a large swathe of land inside the boundary wall. Also there is a duplex building, a pond with stone steps and trees. There are signs of vandalisation and arson there.

According to the documents, the amount of land is 178 decimals (five bighas and four kathas). The local people, however, claimed the amount of land is more than four times than the documents show.

A search at the local land office revealed that the land was bought in the name of Tarique Ahmed Siddique from the families of local persons Anil Kumar and Akshay Kumar in 2012. A local influential trader Swapan, who is currently hiding, mediated the deal.

Former owner of the land Akshay Kumar Biswas was found in Joydebpur. He informed Prothom Alo on 30 January that the land belonged to his family. Tarique Ahmed Siddique bought the land in 2015. Though the amount of land is 23 bighas, he paid the price of only 14 bighas of land. He did not get the price of remaining land as there were issues with the documents.

He further claimed that the remaining nine bighas of land are within the boundary wall.

Another bungalow, Baganbilash, is situated in the town’s Bangalgachh area. A visit there on 1 February showed that the main entrance of the establishment is closed. The bungalow is encircled by a brick boundary wall.

When the gate was knocked on, a certain Md Hridoy opened it and said he looks after the house now. He did not allow this correspondent to enter.

Hundreds of trees have been planted inside the bungalow. Besides, there is a two-storied building there, a small building adjacent to that, and a huge pond in front of the building. A watchtower has been built to enjoy the scenic beauty of the pond and the nearby waterbody.

Md Hridoy told Prothom Alo that everyone thinks this is a bungalow of Sheikh Rehana, but actually the owner is one of her relatives. A group of people entered the bungalow on 5 August (last year) and vandalised and looted.

The name of Shafique Siddique, brother of Tarique Siddique, is engraved at the main entrance of the bungalow. However, the mutation of the 78 decimals of land (2.36 bighas) is in the name of Tarique Siddique, said the local land office. Local people, however, said the amount of land is about 10 times more than the documents show.

Murder cases have been filed against Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Rehana and most of their family members after 5 August 2024. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has been conducting investigations of their corruption. Lawsuits have also been filed in some cases. 

The ACC on 17 December last year decided to conduct an investigation against Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Rehana, Sajeeb Wazed and Tulip Siddiq on charges of irregularities and corruption of Tk 800 billion involving nine projects.

The anti-graft watchdog on 13 and 14 January lodged two lawsuits against Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Rehana and six of their family members alleging hiding information and abuse of power in allocating six plots of 60 bighas in total in Dhaka’s Purbachal area.

Apart from this, the ACC on 27 January filed four lawsuits against Tarique Ahmed Siddique on charges of misappropriating Tk 8.12 billion in four projects of three airports.

Speaking about the overall situation, Gazipur deputy commissioner Nafisa Arefin told Prothom Alo, “They (ACC) sought reports from us; we shall provide those. What happens next is the matter of the policy level.”

*This report, originally published in Prothom Alo print and online editions, has been rewritten in English by Hasanul Banna and Shameem Reza