Police have arrested two people in Satkhira on charges of attempting to lease Water Development Board land using a forged seal and signature of the water resources minister.
Officers arrested them on Wednesday afternoon from the Satkhira Water Development Board-1 office while they were present on site. Later at night, police filed a case and handed them over to Satkhira Sadar Police Station.
The arrested are Md Mostafizur Rahman, 35, of Narayanpur village in Kaliganj upazila, and Abdur Rahim, 42, of Kamta village in Debhata upazila.
Police and locals said the arrested men are members of a fraud ring. They allegedly prepared a fake seal of the water resources minister and forged his signature to apply for leasing Water Development Board land.
The matter came to light when the executive engineer of Satkhira Water Development Board-1 grew suspicious of the signature. A verification later confirmed that the signature did not belong to the minister.
On Wednesday afternoon, the accused went to the executive engineer’s office and tried to pressure officials to process their application. The executive engineer then informed police, who arrested them from the spot.
Satkhira Sadar Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Masudur Rahman said “The arrests were made in a special drive under instructions from the district police superintendent.”
He said the suspects admitted involvement in the forgery during preliminary questioning.
He added that the group was attempting to misuse government authority for personal gain.
In this connection, Sub-Assistant Engineer Md Shafiqul Islam of the Water Development Board filed a case at Satkhira Sadar Police Station on charges of forgery and fraud.
Police said preparations are underway to produce the arrested men before court.
