Santhia Jubo League chief suspended
Jubo League's Santhia upazila unit president Ashraful Alam Tutul was suspended on October 28 amid allegations of abduction, torture and obstructing lawful owners from fishing in Sonai Beel, a wetland in the area.
Directed by the central committee of Bangladesh Awami Jubo League, its Pabna district unit Convener Ali Murtoza Bishwas Sony and Joint Convener Shibli Sadik issued the suspension order on Wednesday night.
Ashraful's involvement in "anti-organisational activities" and "alleged torturing of farmers" were stated as reasons for the suspension in the order.
Residents of Hariakahon village in Santhia upazila, where Sonai Beel is located, said a considerable portion of the water body is owned by many of them.
A number of them said they live on catching fish in their submerged low-lying property as well as the water body during the wet season, when they do not have any income from their flooded croplands.
But this year, when the floodwaters started to recede and the landowners made attempts to catch fish there, their access to the water body and even their own property were blocked by Ashraful and his goons, alleged the villagers.
Many of them claimed that they endured physical assault and torture by the goons for setting up fishing nets not only in Sonai Beel, but in their own land as well.
Hariakahon resident Monsur Ali said he could not grow any crop on his land in the last four to five months as it was inundated with floodwater.
When the floodwater started to recede, he went to set up fishing net there. But the "Jubo League men" took possession of the land and forced him out of there, he claimed.
Many other villagers including, Rafikul Islam, said Ashraful first took control of a canal that he leased inside Sonai Beel. But over the past few years, he assumed control of fishing in the entire water body with the help of his henchmen.
Ashraful's brother-in-law Babul Hossain and his thugs forced him out of his own land and damaged his fishing nets when Rafikul went there to catch fish, he also said.
Masud Hossain from the same village said on October 19, he was abducted by Ashraful's thugs for catching fish in Sonai Beel.
They took him in Ashraful's office and tortured him physically, he also said, claiming that he had not been able to file any case for the assault due to various reasons.
When asked about the accusations being made against him, Ashraful Alam Tutul said he neither leased the canal nor was he involved in fish trade.
Rather, his relative Babul is in fish trade and he gets fish from several fishers, including Kalipada Haldar and Sunil Haldar, from Nandanpur village, who had leased the canal in the beel.
Denying allegations of creating obstruction in catching fish in the water body or physically assaulting any villager, he also claimed that clashes often break out in the area over disputed land in the water body. But he never gets himself involved in those disputes.
Contacted, Santhia Upazila Nirbahi Officer SM Jamal Ahmed said though he did not receive any formal complaint against Ashraful yet, they would take action upon receipt of a complaint.
The canal in the water body was leased out, but no one should have any problem catching fish in their own land, he added.
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