Four surveyors from the LA branch of Patuakhali Deputy commissioner's office were accused of holding up land files and demanding a 6% bribe to give the payment to those whose lands were acquired for the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) in the Auliapur union under Patuakhali sadar upazila.
A victim submitted a formal complaint regarding this matter to the Ministry of Land on Thursday.
The formal complaint mentioned that more than four hundred plots of land were acquitted at Ponchakoralia village in Auliapur union for the EPZ. However, four surveyors including Saddam Hossain, Bishwajit, Nazmul and Saiful demanded a 6% bribe to give the payment for the land to those whose lands were acquired. As the victims did not pay the bribe, the surveyors held up their files day after day. However, many received the payment by submitting fake documents as they bribed the surveyors. Additionally, a resident of Ponchakoralia village, Delwar Hossain Mirza, filed a formal complaint to the Deputy Commissioner some time ago, complaining against surveyors Saddam Hossain, Bishwajit, Mosharraf, Nazmul, Shahabuddin Munshi, and Kalam Munshi regarding the same issue. The victims’ family members demanded that they wanted to be able to withdraw their payments without having to bribe the surveyors.
Surveyor of LA Branch Saddam Hossain said these are false and baseless allegations. Moreover, if a written complaint is submitted to the Deputy Commissioner, I will accept whatever action is taken after the investigation.
Deputy Commissioner of Patuakhali Abu Hasnat Mohammad Arefin said we will investigate the matter and necessary measures will be taken after that.
