8 sued for bid to grab govt land, assaulting official

3 October 2009, 17:00 PM

Our Correspondent, Nilphamari

Eight people have been sued on charges of taking control of a government land meant for construction of district press club building and assaulting a land official in the town. Assistant land officer ATM Shamsul Islam filed the case with Sadar Police Station on Thursday night. The accused with the help of some local youths grabbed 25 decimal land in the town's Shahi Para area on the night of September 27 to construct a commercial building on it. Local journalists immediately brought the matter to the deputy commissioner who sent land officials to the spot the following day. The land with the help of police removed a fence erected by the grabbers and freed the land. Angered by the action of the district administration local administration, the grabbers attacked the makeshift press club built on the land and assaulted club secretary Ratan Sarker on September 28. They also asked the journalists to leave the place or face dire consequences. When the newsmen filed a general diary (GD) with Sadar Police Station, the land grabbers changed their strategy. They again took control of the land and this time started building a mosque on it. Hearing the news, Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO), Khorshed Alam went to the spot and urged the grabbers not to build any illegal structure on the government land. As the grabbers did not pay heed to UNO's request, Sadar upazila Assistant Commissioner of land (AC Land) Farzana Sharmin along with a contingent of police went to the spot and asked the occupants to leave the place. At one stage, the grabbers with the help of some local youths assaulted the AC land, kept her under siege and spread a rumour that the land official had ordered police to demolish the under-construction mosque. They also swooped on the law enforcers who tried to rescue the AC land. Police rescued the AC land who along with the law enforcers left the place. Meanwhile, 25 people ware injured in a clash between two rival groups over ownership of a land in Jadur hat village under Sadar upazila yesterday. Eight of the injured were admitted to Sadar hospital.