Protesters attack eviction drive on Bakkhali river in Cox’s Bazar, cop injured

A group of protesters attacked an eviction drive to remove illegal structures from the banks of the Bakkhali river in Cox's Bazar today.

The incident occurred around 11:00am in the Kasturaghat area.

Constable Md Karim of Cox's Bazar Police Lines was injured in the head after being hit by bricks and was admitted to Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital.

Police said four people were detained due to their suspected involvement, but their identities have not yet been confirmed.

Witnesses said a joint drive led by the army, police, Rab, Coast Guard, and district administration began on Monday to clear the riverbanks of illegal occupation.

Photo: Collected

On the first day, about 200 houses and other structures were demolished in the Kasturaghat area.

This morning, around 10:00am, locals began protesting, claiming that the land being demolished was legally registered.

Around 11:00am, as the drive continued near the Bakkhali Bridge, protesters started pelting bricks at police, injuring Constable Karim. Law enforcers later dispersed the crowd and detained four people.

Later in the afternoon, the eviction resumed, and by 3:00pm over a hundred structures had been demolished.

Cox's Bazar police spokesperson and Additional Superintendent of Police Md Jashim Uddin Chowdhury said, "The injured officer is receiving treatment at the hospital. Four people have been detained. The eviction drive is continuing."

AKM Arif Uddin, Director of BIWTA's Port Division, said court orders for maintaining the status quo had been ignored, and structures were built on the riverbanks.

He added that eviction could not be carried out earlier due to pressure from land grabbers. Later, the court ordered the removal of illegal structures and directed that the Bakkhali river be declared an ecologically critical area.

"Based on that verdict, Adviser Rizwana Hasan, in consultation with the district administration, decided to launch the five-day eviction drive, which began today," he said.

According to BIWTA, the 81km Bakkhali river originates in Naikhongchhari of Bandarban, and flows through Ramu and Cox's Bazar, and joins the Bay of Bengal at the Kasturaghat-Nuniarchhara point.

The 6km stretch of the river, from Nuniarchhara to Majhirghat, is densely encroached, with over 1,000 illegal structures built in the past decade.

A list of river grabbers has been jointly prepared by the local land office and the BIWTA.