Land grabbers' muscle

Land grabbers, who took control of a government land meant for construction of district press club building, have attacked the club, assaulted its secretary and kept a land official in confinement.
A group of local people grabbed 25 decimal land in Shahi Para area of the town on the night of September 27 to construct a commercial building on it.
When the journalists brought the matter to the notice of the district administration and sought its help to free the land from the grabbers, land officials with the help of police removed a fence erected by the grabbers and freed the land the following day.
Angered by the action of the local administration, the land grabbers, equipped with lethal weapons, attacked the makeshift press club built on the land and assaulted club secretary Ratan Sarker on September 28. They also asked the journalists to leave the place or face dire consequences.
As the newsmen filed a general diary (GD) with Sadar Police Station, the land grabbers changed their strategy. They again took control of the land and this time started building a mosque on it.
Hearing the news, Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO), Khorshed Alam went to the spot and urged the grabbers not to build any illegal structure on the government land.
When the grabbers did not pay heed to UNO's request, Sadar upazila Assistant Commissioner of land (AC Land) Farzana Sharmin along with a contingent of police went to the spot and asked the occupants to leave the place.
At one stage, the grabbers with the help of some local youths kept the AC land under siege and spread a rumour that the land official had ordered police to demolish the under-construction mosque. They also swooped on the law enforcers who tried to rescue the AC land.
Police rescued the AC land who along with the law enforcers left the place.
The district administration is yet to take any step to recover the land or stop construction of “mosque” on it. Contacted, an official refused to comment on the matter.