Businessman accused of occupying govt land in Sylhet

The state-run Jalalabad Gas Transmission and Distribution System Ltd has accused a local businessman of illegally occupying a portion of its land in Sylhet city.

The plot measuring no less than 10 decimals lies near the company's headquarters in Mendibag area, the heart of the city. Local businessmen estimated the price of the land at Tk 3 crore.

Md Aminul Islam, deputy general manager (administration) of the gas company, filed a written complaint with Sylhet Metropolitan Police yesterday, saying local businessman Abdur Rahman, who claims the land, had piled bricks and sand at the site over the last three days.

"We have been paying taxes for 88 decimals of land, adjoining the main building [of the gas company] since it was acquired in 2002," said Md Mahbub Alam, general manager (planning) of the company.

But one Abdus Sobhan, now deceased, filed a case with the High Court claiming ownership of a part of the land in 2007, and following that, the court imposed a status quo on the land.

A team of police, led by Additional Commissioner of SMP SM Rokon Uddin, visited the site yesterday and asked Abdur Rahman, the son of Sobhan, to remove the materials and free the land.

Rahman, however, denied putting the materials there. He runs a business of electronics in the area.

The bricks were not removed till filing of the report last night.