Affected people set Rajuk office on fire

Aggrieved locals set a Rajuk site office afire at Diabari in the capital's Uttara yesterday demanding plots under the affected category in the 3rd phase of Uttara Model Town project.
Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) along with Dhaka district administration in the morning went there to demarcate the Uttara Sector-10.
Abdul Majid, one of the affected in Uludaha village, said hundreds of villagers went to the site office of Rajuk in Sholohati village demanding allocation of plots in their favour.
At one stage they were locked in a clash with the on-duty Ansar personnel. The hour-long clash left around 20 injured including three security men.
The agitating locals then set the Uttara 3rd phase site office of Rajuk ablaze before Turag police reached the spot.
As a unit of Tongi Fire Service and Civil Defence rushed to the scene, the agitators attacked two firefighting vehicles, said Zakir Hossain, senior station officer of Tongi fire service.
While one of the vehicles started backing up, it got stuck in a pothole on the road and the attackers vandalised it, he added.
The attack left five firemen including driver Aslam Hossain injured.
Later police from Uttara and Turag stations rescued the firefighters and vehicles. The injured received first aid.
Zakir filed a case in this connection with Turag Police Station in the evening.
Contacted, Md Nurul Huda, chairman of Rajuk, claimed they have already handed over the plots to the affected local people as per rules.
"We finished handing over the plots last year. A local union parishad chairman instigated some people to launch the attack against Rajuk," he complained.
The city planner has reclaimed a big area of land from illegal occupancy by a group of businessmen in Uttara Sector-10, opposite to Ahsania Mission Cancer and General Hospital, around six months ago and developed it by filling earth, maintained Huda.
The businessmen, said Rajuk chief, are pursuing a court case over the ownership of a market opposite to the hospital.