<i>Tale of 18 'wealthy landless'</i>

10 December 2009, 17:00 PM

Our Correspondent, Gaibandha

At least 18 well-off people of Ulipur village under Gobindaganj upazila of the district have acquired ten acres of khas land identifying themselves as landless peasants. The landless people of the village yesterday submitted a memorandum to upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) demanding cancellation of the allocation of government khas land, mostly water body. Local lawmaker Engineer Monowar Hossain Chowdhury (Gobindagnaj constituency) has asked the UNO to look into the matter and take necessary steps in this regard. The landless alleged the well-off people, who concealed their real identity, are involved in business and other professions and 15 of them belong to Jamaat. They also alleged that the authorities concerned allocated the land, taking bribes from the so-called landless peasants and made five deeds on October 20, 12 deeds on October 25 and one deed on October 27. The landless people are fishermen and had been fishing on the water body namely Satbeel for long. Recently, the allottees imposed restrictions on fishing in the water body. When contacted, Gobindagnaj Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Abdul Wahed said he will investigate the matter and take necessary measures.