Huge allegations of involving in corruption in recruitment, tender, and land were raised against ex-heath minister Zahid Maleque Swapan. In the tenure of Jatiya Party lead government, Zahid Maleque’s father Colonel Malek was a minister and Dhaka city mayor. Then, Zahid Maleque had no connection with politics at all. After Awami League (AL) led government ascended into the power, Colonel Maleque joined AL and participated in parliamentary elections in Manikganj-3 constitution. However, he was failed to come out as winner. After that Zahid Maleque entered the political arena through his family connection in politics. He participated in the election from this constitution and became the state minister for Health.
After that, he formed his own circle with some senior leaders of Awami League. He started doing his corruption-ridden business in jobs-recruitment, tender, sand extraction and land grabbing with the involvement of his loyal people. This is how he built a mountain of wealth. The information of his wealth came out anonymously in the investigation.
In AL tenure, he built a 10-story commercial building, Shubhra Center for holding meeting and get-together, a royal luxurious house, and a large farm house in Manikganj. He built a cow farm and a huge warehouse of raw materials in Saturia. Allegedly, the huge farm that he had established in his locality was built in a land taken by exerting pressure to the locals for setting up a school in the name of his mother. There are also allegations of misappropriation of millions of customers of Sunlife Insurance while it was owned by his family. He was so influential that even the oppressed didn’t dare to raise their voices.
He had nothing before becoming a minister, said an elderly man on condition of anonymity. There was talk of selling the Thai factory. He did everything after becoming a minister.
Shukkur Ali, the manager of Nahar Garden adjacent to the raw materials warehouse of Zahid Maleeque in Kamta area said, "The minister's people, Afchar Uddin Chairman and Lal Miah Chairman and their gang used to threaten others to register the land in their names. Finally, they approached to this garden and forcibly took away its land. He didn't let me go to the registry office.”
The owner of the land next to the warehouse, who did not want to be named, said that the inhuman activity of the minister and his gang was very had to be expressed in words.
Kamta Nahar Garden owner Khademul Islam Pinu said, "My father established Nahar Garden with about 90 bighas of land. Former Health Minister Zahid Maleque established the warehouse of raw materials on the south side of it. With this, they encroached 74 percent of the land. They took over 74 percent of the land on the promise of providing me another piece of land to another place. After that, instead of giving away the land in another place, he started pressing to register the land to his name in exchange of some money. Their party goons kept threatening me to shut down my institution. Even, they threatened to take my life. Harassment continued with filing false cases on the allegation of non-registration of land. Seeing all these incidents, my mother became bedridden. Despite that, I could not save the place from them. After that, they came to my garden house and forcibly took the land deed in exchange of just a nominal amount.”
(The report was published on print and online versions of The Bangladesh Pratidin on October 5 and rewritten in English by Lutful Hoque Khan)
