Corruption rampant at Ukhia land office in Cox’s Bazar

The land office of Cox’s Bazar’s Ukhia upazila has been alleged to be a place of rampant corruption in surveying, mutations and records, often resulting in clashes in the area.   Dishonest land officers allegedly force people to pay bribes for getting services. Otherwise, those officers cause intentional delays and harass consumers in various ways.   One official source said such incidents lead to arguments that often trigger clashes between officials and consumers.   Recently, Surveyor Md Fakhrul Islam and Land Officer Somashwar Rodru were victims of an indiscriminate public beating, when they demanded huge bribes from the people.   Seeking anonymity a local alleged that he was being harassed for the last three months at the land office when he went there for mutation of a piece of land.   The surveyor demanded Tk10,000 as bribe for the mutation but he was unable to afford it.   Locals, meanwhile, claimed that the upazila administration has yet to take actions against the corrupt officers to mitigate the sufferings of people.   On the other hand, Ukhia Upazila Nirbahi Officer said the local administration will only take legal actions against the alleged officers, if the authority found credible evidences against them.