At a press conference organised by BSEHR at its central office in the capital, Gias, however, tried to justify the controversial allocation of 0.2460-acre land of Bangladesh Railway to BSEHR in 2003 when Nazmul Huda was the communications minister.

Huda is the founder of the organisation while his wife Sigma Huda its general secretary.

The central office of the BSEHR is also established on the controversially allocated land.

The government leased the railway land for BSEHR, which is an internationally reputed organisation, not for any minister or his wife, Gias said.

BSEHR Secretary General Sigma Huda remained a conspicuous absentee at the press conference while the organisation's Executive Director Elina Khan is in Denmark now. None of the 21 members of the national committee of BSEHR except Gias Kamal Chowdhury was present.

Asked about the process of scrutiny for leasing the land, the organisation's representatives failed to give any answer. They could not also tell anything about the reason of the absence of national committee members at the press conference.

About the prime minister's note to back the file to the ministry regarding the lease, Gias Kamal said, "It was a secretary-level matter. So the prime minister backed the file and then the ministry took the decision to lease the land."

"I urged the then prime minister to allot a house at Nayapaltan (house no 50) for an organisation named after late Maolana Bhasani...She also agreed but the then political secretary of the prime minister Harris Chowdhury did not reply us in three years," he said.

As a reporter reminded him that Dhaka city BNP is using that house as their office, Gias Kamal said, "They might be forcibly occupying the property as there is no reason to allocate the house for them."

"Did they serve the country?" he posed the question referring to 'some powerful people belonging to the past BNP-led government' received undue money and looted relief materials.

Railway leased the land to BSEHR as they also leased lands for FBCCI and Hilton Hotel, BSEHR official Alek Sheikh said.

BSEHR is working to ensure human rights of the general people since 1977 and it is the only field action-oriented human rights organisation in the country, he said.

As per the agreement, the railway would get the third floor and a floor from next each ten floors of the proposed building on the allotted land, he added.