2001-2006: Khaleda Zia robbed thousands of crores of government resources from public works alone

After coming to power in 2001, BNP-Jamaat activists started looting across the country. Even BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, the then-prime minister was among the perpetrators. Khaleda Zia herself allocated thousands of crores of wealth from the Ministry of Public Works to her relatives in the five years of her rule. She used the housing and public works minister Mirza Abbas, also one of the patrons of the extremist wing of the BNP, to embezzle government resources.

These facts were revealed in 2007 during the caretaker government of 1/11. On February 9 of that year, the daily Janakantha published a report with evidence.

Land and properties worth thousands of crores of taka were distributed among Khaleda Zia's nephew Shahrin Islam Tuhin, his brother Nurun Newaz Salim, political secretary and personal aide Mosaddak Ali Falu, Nurul Islam Moni, A Kalam Azad, Md Nazimuddin, Sayeed Iskander, and Sanji Properties among others. The then Minister of Housing and Public Works, Mirza Abbas made all arrangements for Khaleda Zia's relatives and friends to this end.

Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman meddled in the sales of 29 government houses and lands in Gulshan, Banani, Dhanmondi, Elephant Road and Eskaton at the minimum price. The market price of these properties, built on a total of 391 kathas of land, was more than Tk 800 crores at that time. But Rajuk sold those houses at one-tenth of the market price. Those houses in the Gulshan area, worth Tk 1.5 crore to Tk 2 crores, were sold for Tk 10 to Tk 15 lakhs only.