RAJUK dismisses social media post alleging Gulshan Niketan land grab

RAJUK has said false information is being spread on social media about a piece of land in Dhaka’s Gulshan Niketan.

In a press note issued on Tuesday, RAJUK (Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha) insisted the land is fully acquired and owned by it.

It said work has recently begun to build a public park for women and children on the site, to be named the “RAJUK Niketan Ladies Park”.

The press note was signed by Md Ashraf Ali, assistant director of RAJUK’s Estate and Land-1 Department, and Kanungo Md Iqbal Hossain.

According to the note, a social media post on Tuesday claimed that Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan and RAJUK Chairman Riaz-ul-Islam were trying to illegally occupy 42.27 decimals of land (25 kathas) in Gulshan Niketan by using state power.

RAJUK said the allegation was completely false, fabricated and made with ill intent.

The land falls under CS Dag No. 565 of the former Tejkunipara, now under the Tejgaon Industrial Area mouza, the note said.

The total land area under the dag is 84.09 acres. Of that, 80.4394 acres were legally acquired in favour of RAJUK through three land acquisition cases between 1958 and 2010, with gazettes published, it said.

The remaining 3.6507 acres were acquired for Dhaka WASA under a separate case and later included in the Hatirjheel project.

RAJUK said the land has remained under its ownership and control since the acquisition.

It added that a portion of the land, measuring 27 kathas, is now being used to build the RAJUK Niketan Ladies Park for public recreation and the project is under implementation.