Paikgacha (Khulna) Representative
Upazila Assistant Commissioner (Land) Md. Iftekharul Islam Shamim has lashed out at lawyers and journalists for publishing news of corruption in Paikgachha and filing a case in court.
Upazila (Land) Office Certificate Assistant Amartya Biswas, Surveyor Kausar Ali, Nazir cum Cashier Jihad Ullah, Kapilmuni Union Land Assistant Officer Kamal Hossain, communicated with each other and accepted a bribe of Tk 4.20 lakh in various installments from Sheikh Nazrul Islam, son of Sheikh Shawkat Ali of Pratapkati village of the upazila, and his brothers, promising to give money to Assistant Commissioner Land Md. Iftekharul Islam Shamim, for the renewal of the lease of the VP land of Pratapkati and Hauli Mouza of the upazila.
However, after taking the said money, they did not lease the said land to the complainant Nazrul Islam but illegally leased it in the name of his opponents. The complainant has evidence of the said bribe transaction through mobile conversations and financial transactions through bKash. Later, the accused did not ask Nazrul to return the money. Then Nazrul complained the matter in writing to the higher authorities of the administration. After getting no result, he informed the journalists about the matter. The matter was published in various national and local newspapers. Then on January 12, 2025, Nazrul filed a case against the accused in the Paikgachha Senior Judicial Magistrate Court.
No. 36/25, the court accepted the case and the case is a crime under the Penal Code, Crimes under the Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2004, which is triable only by a special judge, so the court returned the case and ordered the plaintiff to go to the appropriate court. The lawyer in the case is Adv. F.M.A. Razzak, President of Paikgachha Press Club, journalist and human rights activist. He published Sheikh Nazrul Islam's complaint in various newspapers and filed the case in court as a lawyer. That is why the Upazila Assistant Commissioner of Land Md. Iftekharul Islam Shamim and his subordinates are angry at the said lawyers and journalists. Instead of taking legal action against those who have recovered government land in different places of the upazila or illegally recorded government land, they are conspiring to evict the journalists and lawyers who are living in different places of the upazila by purchasing the settled land on the basis of transfer of land and constructing houses. They are even spreading rumors that they will look into the conspiracy to lease out the VP land that was released through the court, along with lawyers and journalists.
Therefore, the conscious community has demanded investigation and removal of the corrupt Upazila Assistant Commissioner Bhoomi and his subordinate employees who harassed in the name of naming more than two hundred names and rejecting them. In addition, during the anti-discrimination student movement, student Nipiron's complaint was raised against 13 executive magistrates of Khulna. Among them, Paikgachha Upazila Assistant Commissioner (Land) Md. Iftekharul Islam Shamim has a controversial role. It is known that he is being reviewed by the International Crimes Tribunal. In addition, the home of the accused Iftekharul Islam Shamim is in Gopalganj district and he used to present himself as a powerful person during the rule of the Awami League government. However, many were punished, transferred, and forced to resign due to their controversial roles during the rule of the previous government, but Md. Iftekharul Islam Shamim is still alive.
