Before 2008, Sadhan Chandra Majumder used to sit on mats at different village markets to buy paddy. He would deliver that paddy to different destinations by bullock cart. In this way, he became a rice trader. In the 1980s, he set up a rice mill in his home area, Niamatpur, Naogaon. Gradually, he got involved in politics. In 1984, he was elected chairman of Hajinagar Union Parishad, and later, chairman of Niamatpur Upazila. In 2008, he was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the first time from Naogaon-1 (Niamatpur-Porsha-Sapahar constituency). Since then, he has been elected MP four times consecutively. From being Union Parishad Chairman of Hajinagar, he eventually became Food Minister in the Awami League government—twice.

Sadhan Chandra Majumder was born in 1950 into a lower-middle-class family in Shibpur Baldahghat village, Niamatpur, Naogaon. His father, the late Kaminikumar Majumder, was the headteacher of Shibpur Government Primary School. At that time, communication was poor; villagers had to walk through broken roads to reach Niamatpur. There were no vehicles—boats, walking, bicycles, horse carts, and bullock carts were the main means of transportation. Niamatpur was a remote rural area in the truest sense.

Conversations with locals and family sources reveal that after the political shift during the 1/11 caretaker government era, Sadhan Chandra Majumder won the 2008 election from Naogaon-1 (Porsha, Sapahar, and Niamatpur). Before that, he had contested twice from the same seat but lost to BNP candidates. The political changes of 1/11 became a blessing for him.

Now, in his constituency, people talk about his sudden massive wealth despite being a rice trader once. The burning question among the people: how did he become so rich overnight?

Through transfer business, rice market syndicates, commissions from tenders, grabbing water bodies, and establishing dominance in different sectors, he accumulated hundreds of crores of taka. As general secretary of the district Awami League, he controlled the Roads Department, LGED, Agriculture Department, government ponds, khas (public) land, and various recruitment deals. His family members used his political power to build a hoarding empire in the district.

His younger brother, Monoranjan Majumder (Mona), was the mastermind of the syndicate. His daughters—Soma Majumder, Kaberi Majumder, Krishna Majumder, and Trina Majumder—his three sons-in-law—Abu Naser Beg (former DC of Magura), Nasim Ahmed (general secretary of Naogaon municipal Awami League), and Shovon Das (a pilot)—his nephew Rajesh Majumder, Saiful Islam (regional food controller of Sylhet), and Abdus Salam (former acting officer of Pulhat food warehouse in Dinajpur)—all together formed a powerful syndicate. With money, they turned irregularities into regular practice. With the syndicate’s green signal, Sadhan Chandra, as Food Minister, decided who would be posted where and in what position.

In Rajshahi Division, the bribe money for transfers went directly to Monoranjan Majumder Mona, while in Rangpur Division, it went through Abdus Salam of Dinajpur’s Pulhat food warehouse. In return, Abdus Salam himself built a seven-story building in Naogaon’s Sebashrampara, spending crores of taka.

During Sadhan’s tenure as minister, lucrative postings were given to those needed to maintain the syndicate. For example, Abdus Salam was transferred from Mohadevpur (Naogaon) to Pulhat (Dinajpur’s most important food warehouse) to facilitate transfer dealings. In the last five years, several officials were appointed to positions in exchange for large sums of money: Subirnath Choudhury became district food controller of Dinajpur for crores, Jahedur Rahman acting officer of Mohadevpur food warehouse for Tk 20 lakh, Golam Mowla as Naogaon Sadar food controller for Tk 20 lakh, Dulal Uddin Khan and Harunur Rashid as managers of Santahar CSD for Tk 50 lakh each, and so on. Many more were transferred or appointed to posts across Naogaon, Dinajpur, Bogura, Faridpur, Pabna, and Chapainawabganj in exchange for bribes.

The syndicate even took money without delivering the promised jobs. For example, Abul Kashem, a businessman of Niamatpur, said: “The minister’s brother Mona Majumder took Tk 30 lakh, promising to arrange a posting for my younger brother. Even after five years, neither did the posting happen, nor did we get the money back. When we demanded it, Mona threatened us, saying he’d kill us and dump our bodies in water. Out of fear, we didn’t ask again.”

According to Sadhan Chandra Majumder’s affidavit for the 10th National Election, his annual income from agriculture was shown as Tk 30,000, from business Tk 2.5 lakh, and from shares, savings certificates, and fixed deposits Tk 49 lakh. He declared Tk 21.4 lakh in cash deposits in banks, Tk 10,500 in other deposits, Tk 39 lakh in savings, and two cars worth Tk 16.3 lakh and Tk 41.7 lakh (duty-free as MP). He also declared 12 bhori (about 140 grams) of gold received through marriage.

In the affidavit for the 11th National Election (2018), he declared agricultural income of Tk 35,000, business income Tk 2.95 lakh, shares and deposits worth Tk 1.88 crore, bank cash Tk 1.74 crore, savings Tk 75.7 lakh, and a vehicle worth Tk 64.7 lakh. Again, he declared the same 12 bhori of gold and 23 bighas of land, along with an 11-katha non-agricultural plot valued at Tk 36.6 lakh.

However, locals say all this is just “on paper.” His lifestyle was many times more lavish than his declarations. Even taking the affidavits at face value, he was already a crorepati (multi-millionaire). In reality, people believe his assets reach into the thousands of crores, much of which remains undeclared.