ACC sues BK Tex MD over alleged illegal sale of govt lease land
According to the case statement, the two are accused of criminal breach of trust, cheating and abuse of power for allegedly selling government lease land through a deed of sale and later mortgaging the property to a bank without approval from the government.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed a case against the managing director of BK Tex Limited and a former sub-registrar over the alleged illegal sale and mortgage of more than five acres of government lease land in Chattogram's Nasirabad industrial area.
ACC Assistant Director Nurul Islam filed the case today (8 March) with Chattogram District Integrated Office-1, ACC Deputy Director Shobel Ahmed confirmed.
The accused are Md Harun Ur Rashid, managing director of BK Tex Limited, and Md Abu Talib Khan, a former sub-registrar of Chattogram Sadar.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
According to the case statement, the two are accused of criminal breach of trust, cheating and abuse of power for allegedly selling government lease land through a deed of sale and later mortgaging the property to a bank without approval from the government.
ACC documents show that the then government of East Pakistan had leased around 5.20 acres of land in the Nasirabad industrial area to Pakistan Oxygen Limited under a 99-year agreement executed in 1957.
The land was leased for establishing facilities to produce industrial gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and acetylene. The lease agreement stipulated that the property could not be sold or mortgaged without prior approval from the government.
Over time, the company underwent several name changes – from Pakistan Oxygen Limited to BOC Bangladesh Limited and later Bangladesh Oxygen Limited – and is now known as Linde Bangladesh Limited.
According to the ACC, the board of BOC Bangladesh Limited decided in 2005 to transfer the property. In March 2009, a deed registered at the Chattogram Sadar Sub-Registry Office transferred the plots to Harun Ur Rashid for Tk12.51 crore.
Investigators say the transaction was executed through an outright sale deed instead of a transfer arrangement permitted under certain conditions by the Ministry of Housing and Public Works.
The ACC also alleges that Harun later used the land as collateral to secure bank facilities despite explicit refusal from the government.
Documents show that Harun sought permission from the housing ministry in 2009 to mortgage the land to Bank Asia Limited, but the ministry rejected the request, saying government lease land could not be mortgaged.
Despite the refusal, he allegedly deposited the original title deeds with Bank Asia's Khatungonj branch in 2010 as additional collateral for loans taken by his firms.
The case has been filed under sections 409, 420 and 109 of the Penal Code and Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947. The ACC said its legal wing approved the case on 26 February 2026 and that further suspects may be brought under the law if evidence emerges during the investigation.
