A Dhaka court has remanded a land surveyor to prison after he was caught red-handed accepting a bribe of 100,000 BDT inside his office. The suspect, 51-year-old Md. Asadul Islam, was employed at the Assistant Commissioner (Land) office within the Lalbagh Revenue Circle in the capital.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) executed a planned sting operation on Tuesday morning following a complaint regarding extortion and corruption. Acting on verified intelligence, a special team from the ACC’s Dhaka District Office-1 staged the trap at approximately 11:00 am in Asadul’s designated office chamber.
According to court filings submitted by ACC Assistant Director Md. Mahabub Morshed, the complainant handed over the cash sum directly to Asadul. Immediately after receiving the money, the surveyor placed the bills inside a khaki envelope and stowed it in the second drawer of his side table. ACC operatives waiting nearby moved in instantly and detained him on the spot. Upon interrogation, Asadul admitted to receiving the money, and the serial numbers on the recovered banknotes matched records previously documented by the anti-graft agency.
The case stems from a land dispute involving Md. Monirul Islam, a retired army officer who holds a registered, irrevocable power of attorney for 282 decimals of land in Charkamrangi Mouza under Lalbagh Police Station. On 27 April, Monirul applied to the Dhaka Deputy Commissioner for official land demarcation, the separation of state-owned land from private property, and map preparation.
Despite six months of persistent follow-ups at the Lalbagh Revenue Circle, no progress was made until Monirul was directed to deal directly with Asadul. The surveyor subsequently demanded a bribe of 8,000,000 BDT to complete the land demarcation and mutation processing. Monirul alerted the ACC, leading officers to arrange the sting operation to catch Asadul receiving the initial instalment.
Following his arrest, ACC officials lodged a case against Asadul under Section 161 of the Penal Code and Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947. In the evening, the suspect was produced before the court of Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Joshita Islam, who granted the prosecution’s prayer and ordered his detention in prison. ACC panel lawyer Delowar Jahan confirmed the court’s order.
