In presence of a Rajuk team led by Magistrate ASM Emdadud Dastagir, the law enforcers knocked down an under-construction mosque at Kalachandpur in Baridhara area.

"Locals were building the mosque with a 10-storey foundation on the Rajuk land," said Dastagir.

The Rajuk drive was stretched to the Baridhara diplomatic zone as well. There, iron fences erected on the Rajuk land in front of different houses were bulldozed.

"We tried to clean up the entire UN Road. Pedestrians have long been facing difficulties for those illegal fences on the walkways," said the magistrate.

The eviction team removed fences also from the Baridhara Park.

Meanwhile, the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) authorities yesterday ran a massive drive in the city's Mohammadpur area.

They pulled down shanties and other illegal establishments in different places across the area, said Kamruzzaman Khan, chief estate officer of the DCC.

The same day the railway department conducted an eviction drive in Borolekha and Ashuganj to recover its land that had been grabbed on different occasions.

CHITTAGONG DRIVE
Our Chittagong Bureau office reports: The Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) yesterday continued for the sixth consecutive day its drive against encroachers. Its demolition squad bulldozed some 250 illegal roadside structures.

Led by magistrate Tahera Ferdous, the drive went on along the road between Probartak Intersection and Sholoshahar Gate No-2 and also the stretch between Sadarghat and Majhirghat area.

The ongoing drive that began Thursday aims at widening the roads with a view to ease the severe traffic congestion in the port city, sources said.

As per the CDA master plan, the roads were to be expanded, bearing in mind the fast growth of the country's second largest city. But influential quarters with the blessings of successive ruling parties have swallowed vast roadside properties belonging to the CDA, they said.

The road from Probartak to Sholoshahar was narrowed down to only 25 to 30 feet because of the rampant encroachment on either side, said a CDA official.

"The same is the case with the road from Sadarghat to Majhirghat," he added.

The official told The Daily Star that they have plans to expand both the roads up to 60 feet.

The CDA eviction team however had to spare some of the structures due to an High Court ruling.