Break-in at rooms holding Dhaka’s land records

Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Tejgaon Shailpanchal Police station Abdur Rashid confirmed the break-in to the Dhaka Tribune and said it took place at the new building of the complex. Police were at the spot and working with the officials to find out what had gone missing, he added. “We were informed around 10am that the locks of three unit offices – Dhaka Sadar, Uttara and Tejgaon – had been broken into and we immediately rushed to the spot,” OC Rashid said. Police found the locks on the rooms were broken, but the lock on the main entrance of the building was untouched. Police detained all 14 security guards and some of the deed writers and sub-deed writers from the building, Land deed writer Enamul Haque told the Dhaka Tribune. “Especially those who work at the units or the adjacent units,” he added. Enamul said that the staff learned of the incident around 10:30am and since then outsiders have been barred from the building. Some who had entered the building before 10:30am were escorted out by police after body search. Another deed writer of the office asking not to be named told the Dhaka Tribune that police had also detained Jahangir and Badal, two men who supply tea in the office and a Mohhammad Ali who owns a nearby tea-stall. The source said some men working for the local ward commissioner were also detained, but the police would not corroborate this claim. The men always stayed at the office during night, the source alleged. Inspector General of Registration (IGR) Khan Md Abdul Mannan, who is the head of the directorate, declined to comment when called and remained unreachable afterwards.