Gofran Palash, Kalapara (Patuakhali)

Former Kalapara UNO Abu Hasnat Mohammad Shahidul Haque, accused in the much-discussed 72-acre Khas land settlement case in Kalapara, Patuakhali, has finally been punished. The Disciplinary-5 branch of the Ministry of Public Administration issued a notification regarding this punishment on July 23.

The notification mentioned that Shahidul Haque signed the 42 fake confessions without conducting the necessary checks. As a result, a total of 71.63 acres of government Khas land was mismanaged, which caused a huge financial loss to the government.

It is learnt that while working in Kalpara in 2022, he settled 72 acres of Khas land worth Tk 25 crore in the name of 42 wealthy people by taking a huge bribe. At that time, in addition to his duties as UNO, he was also in the additional charge of Assistant Commissioner (Land). After the issue of Khas land settlement case came to light, a 3-member investigation committee of the District Administration was formed. The accused UNO himself hastily filed a case with Kalapara Police Station, making Surveyor Md. Humayun Kabir the main accused and filing a case against unknown accused with the Kalapara Police Station. After the police arrested Surveyor Humayun and sent him to the district jail, the complaint in the case was sent from the police station to the ACC District Office for investigation under the ACC Act. After that, the ACC was called in to investigate. A long delay began. And for mysterious reasons, no further information regarding this was known from the ACC.

However, this act was considered misconduct as per the Government Servants (Disciplinary and Appeal) Rules and a departmental case was filed against Shahidul Haque in 2025. In response to the allegations, he submitted a written statement and requested a personal hearing.

In view of that application, his hearing was held on 5 November 2025. However, as his statement given in the hearing was not considered satisfactory, the Ministry of Public Administration appointed an investigating officer.

The investigating officer highlighted several important discrepancies in his report. These include the creation of an unusual number of acceptances beyond the permitted limit, major discrepancies in the amount of land and visible signs of cutting in the relevant documents.

According to the investigating officer, signing these important matters without properly verifying them is evidence of clear negligence in the discharge of administrative duties. Based on these observations, he stated in the report that the allegations of misconduct brought against Shahidul Haque have been proven.

Based on this, Shahidul Haque was given a minor punishment of suspending his salary increment for one year as per the relevant provisions of the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules.