Narayan Chandra Chand, Member of Parliament of Khulna-5 (Dumuria-Phultala) Constituency was a member of the Cabinet of the Awami League government for two rounds in the last 16 years. He was the Minister of Fisheries and Livestock for the first time. He was the last minister of land. He became the king of bribery, corruption and usurpation as a minister. He made crores of rupees by occupying the river, making brick kilns, privatizing colleges and recruiting and transferring in various government offices. The former minister himself, his son and daughter were partners in this trade.
Narayan Chandra illegally occupied 9.85 acres of Hari River next to Kharnia Bridge and built a brick kiln called KP Bricks. For 8-10 years, bricks were made from river mud. He earned several crores of rupees through this brick kiln. On the orders of the High Court, the district administration vacated the brick kiln on February 2, 2023.
On September 15, Vireshwar Mallik of that village filed a case against Narayan Chandra and his two sons Satyajit Chandra, Biswajit Chandra and 14 others including 14 people in the Bhadradia village of Dumuria in 2021 for occupying about 100 bigha of land and building a brick kiln there.
It is alleged that Narayan Chandra has a close relationship with the Khulna Divisional Secretary of Communist Party of East Bengal (ML) Shimul Bhuiya. In November 2014, Shimul’s younger brother Shiplu Bhuiyan joined the Awami League with flowers in his hands. In the 2016 and 2021 elections, Shiplu Bhuiyan became UP Chairman with the boat symbol. Apart from this, the cadres of Dumuria’s extremist party New Revolutionary Communist Party lived under the umbrella of Narayan Chandra.
President of Bhandarpara Union Awami League Dr. Himanshu Biswas said, Narayan Chandra has built three brick kilns in the last 16 years. He took over a Surrey dealership in the name of a son. Gave several members of the family jobs in various educational institutions. Apart from this, he stole crores of rupees by giving jobs to others.
On August 5 and 6, the anger of the people fed up with the atrocities
of the minister and his men erupted. After the fall of the government, angry mobs attacked his house and set it on fire. Two cars in the garage along with the furniture of the two-storey house were burnt.
Leaders of Dumuria Upazila Awami League said that Narayan Chandra Chand and his son Biswajit Chandra Chand, former member of University Grants Commission (UGC), Central Jubo League member Chaitali Halder and minister APS Sameeran De Gora are responsible for this situation. They have been looted and disputed. The minister himself outdid everyone in the recruitment and possession trade.
It has been found that Narayan Chandra built two brick kilns called KPB by occupying the river bed in Kharnia area of Dumuria upazila. Satyajit Chandra, the minister’s middle son, is a BCIC fertilizer and cement dealer for the Army Welfare Organization.
Usha Enterprises owned by Satyajit has earned crores of rupees in fertilizer business alone for the past 15 years. He traveled in a luxury Toyota Land Cruiser car.
According to a source in the Primary Education Department, the minister and his sons used to control the recruitment business in educational institutions in Dumuria for the last 16 years. Family members and relatives have also been appointed. Among them, daughter-in-law Sulgna Bose has been appointed as lecturer in Dumuria College, Kaya Rani Chandra as librarian, Shobhan Dey, brother-in-law of former APS lecturer Sameeran, Michael Roy, former APS Satyam Roy, nephew Jayant Kumar Dey, Biplab Kumar Dey, Mithun have been appointed as lecturers. Kumar Mallick, grandson Dweep Chandra Chand, Prasenjit Biswas, Tapas Kumar Raha, Chandidas Kundu, Archana Rani and Sadhan Kumar Das.
Dumuria is famous for fish and vegetables in Khulna district. This upazila is surrounded by canals and rivers. There are 135 water bodies up to 20 acres and 33 above 20 acres.
The aqueducts are supposed to be managed by real fishermen (fishermen). However, the followers of Narayan Chandra are cultivating fish by damming hundreds of rivers and canals. It is alleged that Narayan Chandra and his followers are earning about 4 crore rupees every year from fish farmers.
On the condition of anonymity, a UP chairman said that in the last 16 years, about Tk 600 crore has been spent on various development sectors in TR, Kabita and special allocations of the upazila. But no visible work has been done in rural infrastructure development. Most of the allocation has been looted.
In 2018, a notification of the Ministry of Education said that a college in Dumuria Upazila will be nationalized. The college must be within two kilometers from the upazila headquarters. However, Shahapur-Madhugram College, 14 km away from the upazila headquarters, was made public through the DO letter of the then Fisheries Minister Narayan Chandra, defying the instructions of the ministry. It is alleged that he took a bribe of 5 crore rupees for this. Several teachers-employees of the college alleged that he took a bribe of Tk.
He has earned crores of rupees in the last 16 years in exchange for the implementation of various projects, recruitment in various government departments including the police, transfer of government officials-employees and primary school teachers to convenient places in his area.
On September 29, the victim filed a case against the former minister for kidnapping a rape victim from the premises of Khulna Medical College Hospital. The case was filed in Khulna Women and Child Abuse Prevention Tribunal. Former school teacher Narayan Chandra was a five-time Member of Parliament from Khulna-5 Constituency. He is the President of Dumuria Upazila Awami League for 19 years.
Cheating on wealth information
Narayan Chandra Chand has hidden wealth information in the election affidavit. His annual income in 2018 is Tk 21 lakh 25 thousand. The wealth was 65 lakh 98 thousand rupees. In the affidavit given in 2024, he showed an annual income of Tk 19 lakh 70 thousand. Assets have increased to 1 crore 27 lakhs in five years. The assets include Tk 55 lakh deposited in the bank, 4.17 acres of agricultural land, some non-agricultural land, a building and a semi-finished building. His loan to the bank is 1 crore 99 lakh 57 thousand taka.
However, locals said that apart from this, Narayan Chandra has multiple brick kilns, agricultural land, flats in Dhaka and Kolkata. But he never disclosed the information of these assets.
A-League leaders are also angry.
Atlia Union Awami League general secretary of Dumuria Pratap Kumar Roy told Samakal that the former minister has appointed his family members and incompetents in all the educational institutions of the upazila. Development projects in the area have been given to people of choice. He had no sincerity towards the party. He has reached the end of injustice.
Upazila Awami League Senior Vice President Principal Shafiqul Islam said that he was arrested while escaping to India in disguise. This is the end result of evil deeds.
Many locals say that Narayan Chandra has a house in Kolkata’s Salt Lake. The minister’s grandson Saikat Bose lives in that house. Narayan Chandra and his eldest son Dr. Biswajit Chandra smuggled huge amount of money to neighboring countries through Hundi. That’s why they have less wealth in this country.