Musclemen occupy 36 shrimp farms

Of the lands, 25 acres were leased by the families from government and five acres from the Water Development Board (WDB) about 20 years back, the victims claimed while talking to this correspondent during a visit to the area yesterday.

They also claimed that they submitted complaints to the Deputy Commissioner and the Police Superintendent, but to no effect.

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This correspondent talked to some of the victims including Rabindra Nath Sarkar, Swapan Das, Sree Ram Sardar, Laxman Das and Arati Rani Mondal.

They said a gang had been trying for long to occupy the enclosures. A week ago, about 25 miscreants armed with deadly weapons led by one Habibur Rahman attacked and evicted them from them their homesteads and occupied the shrimp enclosures. They also looted shrimp worth Tk 10 to12 lakh, alleged Swapan Das.

They went to Sadar thana but police did not take any action against the miscreants, he further alleged.

On contact, Sadar thana Officer-in-Charge Golam Mohammad said action will be taken after investigation.

In another incident, a group of people led by Ranga Dalim, Noor Islam, Hakim, Iqbal, Mikail, Rahmat, Afjal, and Sohrab of Datnekhali village in Shyamnagar upazila occupied several shrimp enclosures owned by Shushanta Majhhi, Prafulla Mallik, Baburam Mallik Jyotindra Mallik, Utpal Mistri, Dibakar , Rajib and Asim Mridha of the village and looted fishes, the victims alleged.

Over 200 people of the Hindu Community brought out a procession on October 23 and submitted a memorandum to Shyamnagar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) but to no effect. The victims have sought intervention by higher authorities so that they get back their lands.