Khulna Jubo Dal leader Bahadur faces land-grabbing and extortion allegations, denies them

Bahadur Munshi, member secretary of the Batiaghata upazila unit of Jubo Dal in Khulna, faces allegations of grabbing land, occupying government canals and sand quarries, extortion and commission trading to become wealthy. Local residents also allege he secured his party post through muscle and money. Residents say they are fed up and grassroots Jubo Dal leaders are embarrassed, although Bahadur has denied all the allegations.

He has also printed posters expressing interest in running for chairman in the coming union parishad election, making the allegations against him a major topic in local politics.

Nasima Hasan, a resident of Rayer Mahal in the city, said her husband Imam Hasan Bachchu, while alive, bought 14 decimals of land in Rangemari village of Batiaghata on 8 March 2015 and built a shop with a boundary wall and RCC work. She alleges that after 5 August 2024, Bahadur tried to occupy part of the land with a forged deed.

Nasima said that after several attempts, Bahadur occupied the land on 5 October. She filed a pre-emption case in the district magistrate court. She says that despite a court order to maintain peace and order, she and her family were threatened with death on 13 October. She later filed a case against three people in the additional chief judicial magistrate court that day, but now lives in insecurity.

Bibhas Goldar of Sachibunia in Batiaghata alleged that he built shops on his ancestral property at Chakrakhali Bazar and rented them out. After 5 August 2024, Bahadur rented one shop for a personal office. A few months later Bahadur claimed the shops were his own and that he had deeds. Bibhas said he did not want trouble and therefore did not go to court.

There are also allegations that Bahadur occupied seven shops belonging to a man named Akram at Chakrakhali Bazar after labelling him an Awami League associate, and grabbed 25 decimals of land belonging to Mariam in Tentultala. His brother Badsha is alleged to be running a business from an occupied shop beside a school in Chhoyghoria, while plots, a van garage and shops were allegedly made on grabbed Hindu-owned land nearby.

Several grassroots Jubo Dal leaders, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Bahadur and his men forcibly collect extortion from traders at Batiaghata Bazar. They also alleged that sand quarries around Tentultala, Putimari and Katianangla on the Pashur River have been occupied and sand is being extracted with dredgers.

One Jubo Dal leader, unwilling to be named, said nobody knew anyone named Bahadur before 5 August 2024, that he suddenly obtained posts and has been carrying out various misdeeds, and that the party is embarrassed by his current activities.

Bahadur Munshi, however, denied the occupation allegations. He said all the land documents are in order, that he bought the land and took possession accordingly. On the court injunction he said an investigation is also under way on that, there is no injunction, he has worked properly and has not broken any law. Denying extortion, sand-quarry occupation and other allegations, he said beneficiaries within the party are running a smear campaign against him.

Police Superintendent Sarkar Omar Faruk said a special drive is under way in four upazilas including Batiaghata and offenders will not be spared. He said many land and occupation complaints come to them, and if such a complaint is received against anyone, action will be taken together with the relevant administration.

When the allegations were brought to Amir Ezaz Khan, member of parliament for Khulna-1 and former convener of district BNP, he said the party will not take responsibility if anyone uses the party name for occupation, extortion or other misdeeds. He said he has a clean image in the area from his long political career and it cannot be allowed to be damaged by any land grabber or criminal, adding that occupiers have no place with him.

With allegations, cases and denials now side by side, the matter rests on court and administrative steps. Victims' safety, verification of land documents, and how seriously the allegations are treated in the ongoing special drive will determine where the Batiaghata controversy goes next.