Mubarak Hossain, owner of a five-storey building located at 195/6 Basail in Narsingdi town, was once just a private tutor before the Awami League came to power.
The current value of this unauthorized and unapproved building, constructed outside the layout plan of Narsingdi Municipality, is around Tk 10 crore. His father, Abdul Khalek, was a day labourer at the Narsingdi UMC Jute Mill. Their family struggled to make ends meet.
So where did Mubarak find such a magic lamp of Aladdin? Investigations revealed more than expected. Mubarak Hossain had close ties with Lt. Colonel (Retd.) Md. Nazrul Islam Hiru, former Member of Parliament for Narsingdi Sadar-1 and former State Minister for Water Resources under Sheikh Hasina’s regime. Using this connection, Mubarak amassed immense wealth, building a corrupt empire.
A reliable source claims that Mubarak misused the Minister's power to monopolize tenders in all health departments and Water Development Board projects in Narsingdi. He became so powerful that no other contractor could drop a tender. Under Nazrul Islam Hiru’s direct support, Mubarak gained unchallenged dominance and earned crores through rampant corruption.
He built a luxurious five-storey house in the heart of Narsingdi town and accumulated vast assets, both under his name and anonymously. He moves around in expensive vehicles. Local sources and victims confirm these allegations. Mubarak, a poor boy from Birgaon village under Nilaksha Union in Raipura upazila, rose to riches after Awami League came to power in 2009.
According to Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) complaints submitted by victims, Mubarak used the Minister's name throughout the fascist regime to control tenders at the Narsingdi Water Development Board and all hospitals in the district, including the 100-bed District Hospital. Those who resisted were dealt with by his goons.
The complaint further reveals that during this time, Mubarak’s contracting firm "M/S M.H. Enterprise" (License No. 579) was awarded all hospital outsourcing tasks—laundering patients’ clothes and supplying all stationery. Under the 2018 Outsourcing Service Policy, 26 employees were appointed through his firm, including 22 cleaners and 4 security guards, who worked at the 100-bed hospital from 2019 to June 2024.
According to a Finance Ministry circular, the monthly service fee for Category-5 workers was Tk 16,130. However, Mubarak paid them a maximum of Tk 8,000, embezzling Tk 8,130 per person monthly. In total, he swindled Tk 1,20,48,660 from these workers. Further investigations are expected to uncover more.
Mubarak didn’t stop at wage theft. He manipulated wage disbursement by violating Clause 7(2) of the 2018 Outsourcing Policy, which mandates payment directly to employees' bank accounts. Instead, he influenced local authorities to process bills in the company’s name. Employees were forced to sign blank checks. Later, Mubarak would deposit wages into their accounts, withdraw the money himself, and then hand over Tk 8,000 in cash at his office in Shapla Chattar. Not a single check was in the employee’s own handwriting.
When workers started to realize the extent of the fraud, they organized a protest against Mubarak. In retaliation, he terminated nine employees without paying any dues. These workers are now living in extreme hardship, unpaid for nine months.
When asked Mubarak claimed he earned money legally through contracting work and requested that no news be published. He also tried to bribe the journalist through a friend.
The victims stated that proper investigation into the allegations against Mubarak Hossain would expose the entire scandal. Locals demand that the authorities ensure appropriate punishment for this corrupt contractor who looted poor employees' hard-earned money and investigate the sources of his illegal wealth—so that no one can again exploit health complexes and Water Development Board officials to loot crores through corruption.
