TDS Desk:

Gazi Md. Mozammel Haque, who began his career in 1997 after being appointed as an Assistant Commissioner of Police through the 17th BCS, is currently serving as an Additional DIG at the Police Headquarters. He is also the director of a housing project. The project, promoted under the name ‘Ananda Police Family Multipurpose Cooperative Society,’ currently holds assets worth approximately Tk6,650 crores.

However, investigations have revealed that no such cooperative society exists according to the police headquarters and other relevant sources. The investigations say Additional DIG Mozammel is the actual owner of these substantial assets. He allegedly acquired this wealth by illegally occupying land from ordinary people, using the name of the police. To avoid legal scrutiny, he strategically transferred ownership of these assets to his wife’s name.

A recent investigation has uncovered extensive documentation of the vast assets owned by Additional DIG Mozammel and his wife. The investigation shows that this high-ranking police officer has acquired approximately 3,500 bighas of land in various parts of the country under his wife’s name. Among these assets, a housing project in Rupganj, Narayanganj, comprises 3,000 bighas of land, valued at approximately Tk6,650 crores. Adjacent to this, there is a 100-bigha estate, currently valued at around Tk165 crores.

He has also purchased 30 bighas of land in the Olap village of Daudpur Union, with a current market value of approximately Tk30 crores. In the Gutiabo Mouza of Sadar Union, he has constructed a house on 83 decimals of land by occupying government property, with plans to purchase more land underway. Additionally, he owns around 100 bighas of land worth approximately Tk10 crores in Hasura, Sunamganj.

The investigations also revealed that he has amassed a vast fortune in his wife’s name in the Haripur village of Barkanda Union in the Meghna Upazila of Comilla. There is a large estate called ‘Meghna Resort’ located there, which includes a vast fish farm. This farm spans 200 bighas, with an estimated market value of at least Tk20 crore. Mozammel has spent crores of money on infrastructure and the development of the fisheries project. In addition to purchasing properties with cash, Mozammel has also been accused of misusing his power to seize various people’s assets. He is even encroaching upon the Meghna River.

HOUSING COMPANY REGISTERED IN WIFE’S NAME

In all transactions related to the purchase and sale of land for the housing project, Additional DIG Mozammel is publicly present and signs documents as the project director. Even the project officials openly admitted that Mozammel is the actual owner of the project. However, to avoid legal complications, he cleverly registered a company in his wife’s name. Locally, he has spread the word that the land in the housing project is owned by his wife’s company ‘Ananda Properties Limited’.

Documents reveal that Farzana Mozammel, the wife of Additional DIG Mozammel, is the managing director of Ananda Properties Limited. She owns 13,500 of the company’s 15,000 shares, accounting for 90% of the total shares. The remaining 1,500 shares are held by two individuals named Khairul Alam and Shahidul Islam Liton, who are actually employees of the company. The company was registered on 16 June, 2013, under the registration number C-109716, with a capital of Tk3 crore.

According to documents, in November 2016, Ananda Properties declared ownership of 772 decimals or 68.61 bighas of land, located in areas such as Moglan, Gutiabo, and Pitalganj Mouzas. Considering the minimum market value of land in Rupganj to be Tk1.5 crore per bigha, the current market value of Ananda Properties exceeds Tk100 crore. However, the investigation found that Ananda Properties actually controls at least 3,000 bighas of land, with a market value of approximately Tk6,650 crore.

There is also confusion regarding the project’s name. The company’s website and the blueprint provided to the Rupganj land office mention the name ‘Ananda Police Housing Society’. However, the project’s signboard reads ‘Ananda Housing Society’. It has been discovered that there is no official connection between this project and the police force. Although it is publicized that top police officials are involved in the ownership of the housing company, it is primarily run by DIG Mozammel, with his wife Farzana Mozammel as the figurehead.

MORE WEALTH IN THE NAME OF WIFE

Additional DIG Mozammel has amassed substantial assets in his wife Farzana Mozammel’s name in his ancestral village of Haripur, located in Barkanda Union, Meghna Upazila, Comilla. There is a vast estate spanning 200 bighas of land, which includes a large garden estate and a fish farm, collectively named ‘Meghna Resort’. In addition to the resort, Mozammel has also constructed a grand four-story mansion in Haripur, registered in his wife’s name.

The resort is situated on the banks of the Meghna River and adjacent char land (riverine islands). During a conversation, the resort manager, Mamun, mentioned that about 150 bighas of land have been filled, with plans to expand by another 1,000 feet on both sides of the river. The land used for the resort includes public land, local residents’ land, and leased land, all of which Mozammel reportedly purchased. Soil has already been bought to fill the remaining vacant areas, and the land will soon be filled.

On-site observations revealed that the resort includes eight ponds, ranging in size from a minimum of 9 bighas to a maximum of 21 bighas. This year, Mozammel has stocked the ponds with fish worth 2.1 million BDT. Additionally, the resort features gardens with various exotic fruits and vegetables.

WHAT THE VICTIMS ARE SAYING

Victims of land grabbing by Additional DIG Mozammel have shared their distressing experiences. Haji Soleman, a local resident, once owned a large fish farm and several bighas of land where Mozammel’s housing project in Rupganj is now situated. Soleman tearfully recounted how Mozammel took over his land, leaving no trace of his fish farm or property. He said, “I had a fish farm here, spanning three to four bighas of land. DIG Mozammel has taken all of it.”

Another local resident, Abdul Sattar, shared his own suffering, saying, “Poverty has become my constant companion. If DIG Mozammel hadn’t taken my property for the housing project registered in his wife’s name, I wouldn’t be in this situation.” Sattar explained that Mozammel removed the signboard from his land and took it to the police station, where he forcibly had the land transferred to his name.

In 2019, there were allegations that Mozammel detained a local resident in his seventies, Zaher Ali, in the Detective Branch (DB) office for 13 days, during which time Ali was subjected to severe abuse. Zaher Ali claimed that he was tortured to force him to transfer ownership of his 62 bighas of land to Mozammel. To escape the brutal treatment, Ali eventually had no choice but to sign over his land. This incident was widely reported in the media, and even the Home Minister was made aware of it. Zaher Ali’s daughter-in-law, Afroza Akhter Ankhi, filed a lawsuit against Mozammel, his wife Farzana, and 20 others, but despite their efforts, the family was unable to reclaim their land.