Rupganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md Saiful Islam of Narayanganj has held a press conference over an allegation that a bribe was demanded from him. He arranged the conference on Tuesday at the UNO’s office after, he said, Shahin Mia — a journalist with the online portal Aparadh Bichitra — demanded three Dhaka–Cox’s Bazar air tickets and three nights’ hotel booking, or Tk 50,000 in cash.
At the press conference, UNO Saiful Islam said that, despite being an executive magistrate, he had become the victim of extortion by a so-called journalist. He alleged that a man named Shahin Mia, using the identity of the online portal Aparadh Bichitra, had first demanded — as a journalist — three air tickets for a Cox’s Bazar trip and three nights at a five-star hotel. When he refused, he said, Shahin Mia then demanded Tk 50,000 in cash, and at one point threatened to publish a report to humiliate the UNO if the money was not paid. Similar threats were later sent by mobile-phone text message, he said. He further alleged that, because the money was not paid, Shahin Mia — in collusion with Rupganj upazila engineer Akhtar Hossain — published a report on the online portal accusing him of embezzling crores of taka from the 1 percent land-registration fund, and spread it on Facebook.
Addressing the journalists present, the UNO said the office of the upazila nirbahi officer had no power to spend money allocated from the 1 percent land-registration fund. Under estimates prepared by the upazila engineering department, he said, allocated funds were spent on approved projects by local union parishad chairmen, members, reserved-seat women members and notable residents, after which government-designated bodies audited the projects’ accounts, transactions and overall activities for a regular and impartial assessment. There was therefore no scope, he said, for any irregularity, corruption or embezzlement by the UNO, the upazila engineer or the upazila parishad.
UNO Saiful Islam sought the cooperation of the country’s media to take action against malpractice in journalism and to ensure justice.
Funds collected as the 1 percent land-registration levy are spent on various development works under government rules, with project information published regularly on Facebook by the Rupganj upazila administration and by Mustafizur Rahman Bhuiyan Dipu, the member of parliament for Narayanganj-1 (Rupganj).
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report