Surveyor placed on two-day remand over bribery

A Dhaka court on Monday placed surveyor Md Asadul Islam on a two-day remand, who was arrested red-handed with Tk1 lakh in bribe money at the office of the assistant commissioner (land) of Lalbagh Revenue Circle in the capital.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Jewel Rana passed the order after a hearing, said Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Prosecutor Delwar Jahan Rumi.

Earlier in the day, the accused was produced before the court, and the investigation officer of the case, ACC Assistant Director Hafizur Rahman, sought a three-day remand for interrogation.

ACC Prosecutor Delwar Jahan Rumi argued in favour of the remand, while defence lawyer Farhad Hossain Niyon opposed the plea and sought bail for the accused.

After hearing both sides, the court rejected the bail petition and granted a two-day remand.

According to the case documents, surveyor Asadul demanded Tk80 lakh from retired army personnel Md Monirul Islam in exchange for demarcating a plot of land and completing its mutation.

Monirul holds registered irrevocable powers of attorney from the owners of 282 decimals of land across several plots in Lalbagh.

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He had applied to the Dhaka Deputy Commissioner's office on 27 April, seeking demarcation of the land, separation of government-owned 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 during the period.

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

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