Former land minister Rezaul Karim Hira taken into police custody

Former land minister and Awami League leader Rezaul Karim Hira and his wife were confined by local BNP activists at the Sherpur Sadar Sub-Registry Office yesterday while attempting to complete land deed formalities.

The couple was mobbed by a crowd around 3:00pm when they arrived at the registry office to process documents for a land registration, eyewitnesses said.

Upon learning of Hira's presence, local leaders, and activists of BNP and its affiliated bodies gathered at the office premises, chanting slogans and surrounding the former minister and his wife.

Following the tension, police from Sherpur Sadar Police Station rushed to the spot around 5:30pm and rescued the couple from the agitated crowd, subsequently taking them into custody.

Md Ansar Ali, sub-inspector of Sherpur Sadar Police Station, said Hira and his wife are currently in police custody.Hira, who represented the Jamalpur-5 constituency, was first elected to parliament in 1991 as an independent candidate.

He later joined the Awami League and was elected as an MP in the 1996, 2001, and 2008 general elections. In 2009, he was appointed land minister.

In the 2014 general election, boycotted by the BNP, Hira defeated Jatiya Party candidate Babar Ali Khan and was appointed chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Land.

Although he submitted nomination papers for the 2018 election, he withdrew from the race following party directives after failing to secure an Awami League nomination.