Numan's fortune, amassed allegedly by virtue of being a leader of Jubo Dal, was a talk of the town.

Numan is in jail now after arrest on February 13.

It is widely alleged that Numan earned wealth by toll collection, tender manipulation and other illegal means using the name of the then BNP lawmaker M Naser Rahman.

Nurul Alam Numan is the eldest son of Elahi Boksh. His younger brother Kurshed is a truck driver. Other two brothers -- Jahangir and Alamgir-- are vagabonds and drug addicts.

Fortune smiled on Numan like many others after the BNP led 4-party came to power and M Naser Rahman was elected lawmaker in a by-election.

Naser managed an allocation of Tk 200 crore from the then government for development of Moulvibazar. This opened up scope for party men to become 'contractors' to implement development projects.

This correspondent gathered data on development projects and their implementation. Numan got works involving Tk 7 crore in Local Government and Engineering Department (LGED), Tk 2 crore in Moulvibazar Zila Parishad, Tk 3 crore in Roads and Highways Department (RHD), Tk one crore in Public Works Department (PWD), Tk one crore in Moulvibazar Pourasava and Tk 1.5 crore in the Education Engineering Department. He also captured sand quarries and water bodies in the district. Besides, he also got many works involving smaller amounts, officials said.

In five years, Nurul Alam Numan became one of the rich men in Moulvibazar.

Irregularities were alleged in most of his construction work, but bills were paid without any hassle, officials said.

Numan purchased a house at Sultanpur at Tk 48 lakh. He also owns two costly prime lands at Girzapara and Kazirgaon in the district town, three trucks and invested money in the stock market, people close to his family said. Some sources claimed that he also owns a flat in Dhaka, but it could not be confirmed.

After arrest on February 13, he confessed to joint forces that he had Tk 80 to 90 lakh in cash and with banks. This was disclosed by joint forces after his arrst.

Nurul Alam Numan also captured leadership of contractors' association in Moulvibazar and created a syndicate to control all development works. He used to 'distribute' works among fellow 'contractors'. "We had no entry to Moulvibazar LGED office to drop any tender without his permission", an aggrieved contractor said.

Talking to this correspondent, some professional contractors further alleged that budgets for all government development projects were inflated--from 12 to 40 percent-- at the instruction of ruling party men.

It is alleged that Numan even changed deign of some work but engineers keep silent as he was blessed by party influentials.

Sources at LGED office said they had served notices on many occasions asking Numan to follow their design and specification, but he cared a little.

Mamunur Rashid, chairman of Ashidrun Union Parishad in Srimongal upazila said people in his area had once resisted work by Numan when he was constructing the Bilas Chhera bridge allegedly with low quality materials.

In Komolganj municipality, Numan got the construction work of roads and drains involving Tk 1.40 crore under a World Bank aided project. As quality of work was not maintained, World Bank officials from Dhaka had to intervene to correct the faults.