Being a blue-collar employee of the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), he earns Tk35,000 in monthly salary.
But he owns two multi-storied buildings in the capital’s Pirerbagh area. One of the facilities is 10-storied and the other is seven-storied.
Additionally, he has an expensive car. He founded a real estate development company for his wife. Several projects are being implemented by the company “Apsara”.
This is the story of Shafiullah Babu, a third-class employee of the Rajuk. He serves as a draftsman. However, his amassed properties are worth several crores (one crore is equal to 10 million).
Jafer Sadeq joined Rajuk as a fourth-class clerk in 2006. He last served as the personal assistant (PA) to Rajuk Estate-2 (Purbachal) Director Syed Nazrul Islam at a monthly salary of Tk40,000.
Sadeq, too, owns a multi-storied facility, which is in Aftabnagar. He has an apartment in Shantinagar and a luxurious private car. The Rajuk staffer has more properties, many using others’ names, amounting to crores of Taka.
The two are among “most” officials and employees of the government organization who are already crorepatis or multi-millionaires.
It is rumoured that finding a Rajuk employee who does not own a house or apartment in Dhaka city is a rarity.
Slack legal action by Rajuk is blamed for the situation as corrupt officials and employees listed previously only faced suspension.
From allocating plots to approving building designs to monitoring the Bangladesh National Building Code to buying and selling Rajuk plots and apartments, there is not a single service that can be availed fairly and without bribery.
The corrupt officials and employees have created a nexus to continue the anomalies, thus, becoming crorepatis.
This evil practice has been going on for years despite repeated widespread criticism from service-seekers, city planners and even the intervention of the High Court.
On February 14, the High Court ordered the submission of a report on the investigation into allegations of illegal wealth acquisition by a section of Rajuk employees.
The court asked the ACC and Rajuk to submit a report in this regard by April 5.
The irregularities have made the headlines again through the 46 deaths in the deadly Bailey Road multi-storied building fire.
Experts said the fatalities could have been avoided if Rajuk’s building inspectors had discharged their duties properly and on time.
ACC cases, probes
So far, nearly 50 Rajuk officials and employees have been sued by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for amassing wealth illegally. Many of them, including a former Rajuk chairman, have already been charge-sheeted.
Several of the accused have been jailed while some others have been fined.
An ACC team raided two under-construction buildings in Uttara last week. The buildings were being constructed illegally by “managing” the Rajuk officials and staffers concerned, said sources in the anti-graft watchdog.
The team also sent a letter detailing its findings to Rajuk.
Following two suo-motu rules by the High Court, the ACC started probing how 27 Rajuk officials and employees had amassed illegal wealth.
Of them, 16 were already being investigated by the ACC, which recently found evidence of the rest (11) of the accused amassing illegal wealth.
A report against them will be submitted to the ACC, said the investigators.
Moreover, the ACC is also investigating similar charges against another 12 Rajuk officials and staffers.
ACC Deputy Director Yasir Arafat said: “We’ll recommend filing a case against those who have owned illegal wealth. The commission will decide the next course of legal action.”
Who are the culprits?
ACC sources said all of those being probed are crorepatis.
They are: accountant AKM Bayezid Khan, data entry operator Abdul Momin, designer Emdad Ai, building inspector Moniruzzaman, surveyor Masum Billah, supervisor Khaled Mosharraf Talukder, office assistants-cum-computer operators Yusuf Miah and Belal Hossain Chowdhury, senior clerk Mohammad Hasan, designer Sheikh Farid and recordkeeper Firoz.
Draftsman Shafiullah Babu and PA Jazar Sadeq are facing separate investigations.
Bayezid Khan has a six-storied and two nine-storied buildings in Uttara, Momin owns a house on a five-katha plot of land in Dakshin Manda and two apartments in Motijheel; his wife also owns a residence in Savar and a plot in Purbachal. Emdad has a five-storied building and two plots in Demra, while Moniruzzaman has a plat in Dakshin Pirerbagh and a luxury car.
Masum Billah has a seven-storied building in Uttara, Khaled Mosharraf owns an apartment in Madartek, Dhaka, and a multi-storied facility in Bogra, Yusuf Miah owns a three-storied house and two dairy farms in Chittagong, Belal has an apartment in Shantinagar, Dhaka, Mohammad Hasan owns a six-storied building in Badda and a plot in Aftabnagar and Firoz has a six-storied building in Uttara.
A Rajuk official, requesting anonymity, said that none of his colleagues can afford these properties with their legal income.
“They can’t even buy an apartment working their entire lives,” he said.
Rajuk Chairman Md Anisur Rahman Miah, who was also summoned by the High Court in May last year for flouting its order 20 years ago, was not available on phone despite repeated calls for his comment.
In a recent interview with a newspaper, he said: "Officers and employees who are known as corrupt are being identified. The allegations that have already appeared in the media will be investigated.
“Besides, many corrupt people are under investigation by the ACC. As a result, those who have acquired huge wealth through illegal means are not at ease. Many of them will not be able to survive in Rajuk much longer."