Hanif gets land at Gulshan in \\\'privilege\\\' quota

Awami League (AL) Joint General Secretary Mahbub-Ul-Alam Hanif has been allotted a 5-Katha (1.65 decimals) land in Gulshan, the capital Dhaka's most expensive real estate area, reports bdnews24.com.

Rajdhani Unnyan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) allotted plot number 3 on 32/A, Gulshan residential area, to the Kushtia-3 MP on Dec 15 last year at a minimum price.

A letter from RAJUK said the former special assistant to the prime minister had been allotted the land at Tk 5 million per Katha under section 13/A of the land allotment policy.

That law allows for state-owned land to be provided to ministers and MPs.

But Hanif was neither an MP nor a minister at the time of allotment.

Hanif applied for the land on May 18, 2010 and it was allotted to him vide a memo of the housing ministry on Nov 7, 2013.

That was after a decision on the allotment was taken at the RAJUK's 11th general meeting that year. The allotment letter issued from RAJUK Estate Division 1 identifies Hanif as Awami League Joint General Secretary.

Hanif received several calls from bdnews24.com but declined comment on the issue.

RAJUK Chairman GM Jainal Abedin Bhuiyan said: "There's a privilege quota for allotting government land. Maybe he was given the plot under that quota."