Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) yesterday demolished most parts of Ha-Meem Group Managing Director AK Azad's residence at Gulshan in the capital.

Without serving any prior notice and while Azad and his family members were inside the house, a taskforce comprising a mobile court of Rajuk and officials of different public utilities started to demolish the two-storey building in the morning with heavy equipment.

The building, on Road 86 in Gulshan, does not have an approved plan, the officials said.

Azad at one point came out of the house with his wife and three other family members carrying their suitcases and inquired Rajuk officials about the reason for the demolition drive. They left the premises soon afterwards. 

A large section of the house including the main entrance, portions of the front boundary wall, a car garage and a balcony were torn down during the daylong drive.                                      

Waliur Rahman, zonal director of Rajuk and also the executive magistrate leading the mobile court, said, “The two-storey house on nearly one bigha of land has no approved design.” 

When asked if they served any notice to occupants of the house prior to carrying out the demolition, Waliur said such procedure was not necessary in the case of a mobile court's action and the defender in such cases has to provide legal proof on the spot.

The occupants of the house had failed to provide approved design of the house when Adiluzzaman, an authorised officer concerned of Rajuk, visited the house in person last week, the Rajuk director said.

Yesterday, they waited an hour before starting the demolition after making verbal requests to the occupants to vacate the house, he said, adding, “As the occupants did not respond, we began knocking down the house.”

The eviction was carried out as part an ongoing drive of a special taskforce -- launched after the deadly Holey Artisan terrorist attack in July of 2016 -- against illegal establishments in the upscale neighbourhood, said Waliur.

Drives will eventually be carried out against other illegal structures in the neighbourhood, he said in response to a query.

According to the Rajuk official, the original owner, a Pakistani national, of the property had given its power of attorney to another person. Later, Azad purchased the property from that person.

The two-story building on the property was built in 1964 with an open ground where there used to be a school. The propriety is yet to be transferred in Azad's name, said an official requesting anonymity.

Azad did not respond despite repeated calls and sending a text message on his phone to obtain his response. 

Meanwhile, in a written statement of Ha-Meem Group, its Managing Director AK Azad said a team of Rajuk started demolishing his house with a bulldozer, claiming that he did not have any approved design for the house.

Despite showing all legal documents of the house, the team did not pay any heed, he said, adding that they knocked down a portion of the house was by 1:00pm.

He said the demolition work stopped when he showed all valid documents, including approved design and mutation, of the house to the chairman of Rajuk.

AK Azad is the managing director of the country's leading conglomerate Ha-Meem Group that owns two media outlets. He was a president of apex business association Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry.