Land of Tk 9b purchased under Liton Chowdhury’s pressure

A vast swathe of land was purchased at a cost of Tk 9 billion under the Padma Bridge project to fill sand for river training. But, rivers eroded a large portion of this land and erosion continues.

Responsible officials of the Padma Bridge project said there was no need to purchase that land, but the authorities concerned purchased these lands due to tactics and pressure of Noor-E-Alam Chowdhury aka Liton Chowdhury, who is a former chip whip of parliament and a cousin of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, as he organised a movement on this matter at that time.

Locals said a portion of the land compensation money had been embezzled by faking ownership as there was no actual owner of char land, which was khas (fallow) land. Even portions of the compensation belonging to several landowners were also misappropriated.

The director of the Padma Bridge project at the time, Md Shafiqul Islam, told Prothom Alo that 60-70 million cubic feet (cft) of sand was extracted for river training and most of the char lands were filled with those sands. Though lands were acquired in char areas of Madaripur, sand was filled on the land by providing compensation to several local farmers in Shariatpur. He said the decision to purchase the land was taken with the permission of the high level of the government.

According to the Padma Bridge source, char lands in Shariatpur were filled by providing a compensation of 3.5 million to the locals. Similarly, sand filling also started in Madaripur, but several chairmen of the local union parishads, who were followers of Liton Chowdhury, instigated the farmers demanding sand filling after land acquisition. The government passed the Land Acquisition Act in 2017 incorporating provisions on a three-time compensation of the price for land acquisition by the government.

As work on river training stopped in the face of local protests, the road transport and bridges minister at the time, Obaidul Quader, was informed of the matter, and he also took the opinion of then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina. She was also informed that Liton Chowdhury also behind the local protests. Bridge Division sources said Sheikh Hasina ordered purchasing the land after hearing the matter. Finally, the project proposal was passed under special arrangements by adding Tk 14 billion more to purchase the additional land. A total of 964 hectares of char lands were purchased in the next couple of years since 2016.

Liton Chowdhury went into hiding since the student-people movement toppled the government on 5 August. Locals said former vice chairman of Shibchar upazila parishad and Awami League leader Atahar Bepari, chairman of Kathalbari union Sohel Bepari, chairman of Charjanajat union Rayhan Sarkar, chairman of Matbarerchar union Fazlul Haque Munshi and former chairman of Matbarerchar union Mahmud Choudhury were behind the protest against sanding filling. They all went into hiding.

Awami League’s Kathalbari union unit president also went into hiding. He told Prothom Alo over mobile phone the Bridge Authority first wanted to lease the char land for sand filling and they also paid lease money twice. They thought river erosion and loss of crop production might happen, so they prevented the sand filling. At that time, the Bridge Division agreed to acquire lands at the negotiation of Liton Chowdhury, he added.

The char lands that were acquired were in the east of Shibchar’s Kathalbari, Charjanajat and Matbarerchar unions in the Padma River. There were several temporary inhabitants on the acquired lands.

Locals said most of the char lands are recorded in government document as fallow land. Some people grew corps taking lease while some occupied it. When the decision was taken to fill the land with the sand, the followers of Liton Chowdhury took control of the land and raised various structures to get more compensation.

Those who have control over char land faked land ownership and allegedly embezzled the money. Then land acquisition officer Pramoth Ranjan Ghatak gave five people the chaque of Tk 73.5 million for the lands in Magurkhand mouza, but these people did not own the lands, which was, in fact, fallow land.

When the matter was revealed, a probe was launched and the public administration ministry demoted Pramoth Ranjan Ghatak from a senior assistant secretary to an assistant secretary on 4 April this year. The Anti-Corruption Commission also filed lawsuit against former surveyor of Madaripur district administration Mostafizur Rahman and his associate Rubel Hawlader in February this year.

Money was also allegedly taken from real land owners on ‘spending’ purposes. Three and a half bighas of land has been acquired from Nuru Bepari of South Charjanajat. He told Prothom Alo he received the money for two and a half bighas of land at a price of Tk 1 million per bigha and withdrew the money with the help of a local influential individual, and that certain individual took a large portion of the money for ‘spending purpose’. Nuru Bepari did not name the influential individual.

Wahidul Islam was the deputy commissioner of Madaripur at that time. Prothom Alo could not reach him over mobile phone for comment.

Rahima Khatun succeeded Wahidul Islam. Sources said she halted the payment of compensation for land acquisition in 2022 after receiving allegation, but 95 per cent of compensation was paid beforehand.

No decision was taken regarding the use of the acquired lands after sand filing. According to the Bridge Division, several meetings were held on these lands with then prime minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

An official, who attended those meeting, anonymously told Prothom Alo that the Sheikh Hasina government planned to build an international airport on the acquired land, but experts opined after feasibility study that construction of an airport is not possible on char land.

Later, the land was handed over to the army for cattle grazing and setting up a shooting spot. So, the Bridge Division and the army signed a memorandum of understating on it in October 2019.

It has been learned after speaking to locals from Charjanajat, Katalbari and Madborerchar of Shibchar upazila that river swallowed 60 per cent of the acquired lands and it is still underway. There is a cattle farm of the army with about 250 cattle being reared up.

Then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Padma Bridge on 25 June 2022. The Padma Bridge project was completed in June at a cost of Tk 303.70 billion. The Padma Bridge project was undertaken in 2007 at a cost of about 101.62 billion.

Locals claimed if the ACC initiates investigation, who received how much money from the purchase of Tk 9 billion of land and how much money was embezzled faking the ownership of how much land will be revealed.

Farmer Abdul Barek from Madborerchar told Prothom Alo it is necessary to investigate to trace the money of land acquisition in chars.