Special Report
The Bashundhara Residential Area, one of Dhaka’s most sought-after housing developments, is now witnessing a surge in fraudulent practices by unscrupulous land traders and agents. These fraudulent entities are exploiting discrepancies in Revisional Survey (RS) records, which hold no legal significance in urban areas under RAJUK, to misprice land and manipulate property transactions. A pentagram is now being circulated without disclosing its source. This deceptive scheme, often referred to as the ‘Pentagram Fraud,’ is causing unnecessary financial distress to legitimate landowners and investors.
Land traders and agents are deliberately highlighting inconsistencies in RS Dag numbers, even though City Survey (CS) dag numbers and Mutation Records are the legally recognized identifiers for urban land transactions in Dhaka. They use the discrepancies between RS and CS dag records to falsely claim that a property’s ownership status is unclear or compromised.
This fear-mongering leads many landowners to believe they need ‘rectification deeds’ to “fix” their documents, opening the door to fraudulent transactions and unnecessary expenses.
Experts suggested that the primary response to this fraudulent practice is simple: RS records are irrelevant for land transactions and property registration in urban areas governed by RAJUK. Here’s why:
Amid this manufactured confusion, agents operating in Bashundhara area has found a way to capitalize on landowners’ distress. They are reportedly charging landowners between BDT 60,000 to BDT 150,000 per katha for issuing Rectification Deeds Bashundhara Group. These deeds, instead of clarifying ownership, may introduce new legal risks by altering previously established records without legal necessity.
By forcing landowners to pay for these unnecessary rectification deeds, East West Property is also profiting from the uncertainty created by rogue land traders. This practice is not only exploitative but also undermines confidence in the real estate market in Bashundhara.
Prominent real estate lawyer Advocate Milton Gomez has cautioned landowners against making complex modifications to deeds that were executed decades ago. He stated, “Landowners should refrain from unnecessary rectifications or alterations to historical deeds, as these changes can introduce unforeseen legal complications.” He further emphasized that CS dags are the ultimate legal records for determining land ownership, officially accepted by the Bangladesh Government for RAJUK-controlled and most other urban areas in the country.
Owners of land in Bashundhara and if approached about RS discrepancies, should do the following:
The pentagram fraud in Bashundhara is yet another example of how land traders and agents exploit legal loopholes to manipulate property prices and extract money from landowners. RS dag
