Sherpur Correspondent:
Former Jamalpur-5 MP and ex-Land Minister Rezaul Karim Hira was detained along with his wife from the Sherpur Sub-Registrar’s Office on Tuesday evening while involved in a land transaction. The arrest took place around 5:30 PM on May 27.
Hira, who first contested the national election as an independent candidate in 1991, was elected to Parliament in 1996, and subsequently re-elected in 2001 and 2008, defeating BNP’s Sirajul Haque both times.
He was appointed Land Minister in 2009 during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s second term. In the 2014 election, boycotted by BNP, Hira secured victory against Grand Alliance partner Jatiya Party-JP candidate Babar Ali Khan. On March 1 of that year, he was also made chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Land Ministry.
Though he submitted nomination papers for the 2018 polls, he later withdrew following party instructions after failing to secure the Awami League nomination.
Sherpur Superintendent of Police Md. Aminul Islam confirmed the detention, stating that it was based on intelligence reports indicating Hira’s presence at the Sub-Registrar’s Office during the land deal.
Soon after the incident, activists from Chhatra Dal, Jubo Dal, Swechchhasebak Dal, and Sramik Dal gathered at the site, staging a protest and demanding legal action against Hira. Police later took the couple into custody and transported them to Sherpur Sadar Police Station.
