Lalbagh surveyor asks for Tk80 lakh bribe, gets arrested

Mohammad Asadul Islam, a surveyor of the Lalbagh Revenue Circle in Dhaka, was allegedly caught accepting a bribe of Tk1 lakh by an Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) sting operation on Tuesday.

The accused demanded Tk80 lakh from a complainant in exchange for demarcating a plot of land and completing its mutation, according to an ACC statement.

The complainant, retired army personnel Md Monirul Islam, holds an irrevocable registered power of attorney from the owners of 282 decimals of land across several plots in Lalbagh.

He had applied to the deputy commissioner of Dhaka on 27 April, seeking demarcation of the land, separation of government property from privately owned land and preparation of a sketch map.

However, he failed to get the work done in nearly six months, despite contacting the Lalbagh Revenue Circle office several times over the period.

He was later referred to Asadul, the ACC said, adding that Monirul informed them about the surveyor’s demand for bribes.

An ACC team from its Dhaka-1 office then conducted a sting operation, catching Asadul red-handed while receiving Tk1 lakh from the complainant “as down payment”.