Harming 50 Trees: HC slams AL leader over ‘terrible act’

A High Court bench yesterday had a local AL leader Shahriar Ali Paramanik, alias Shahriar Alam, stand in the courtroom for around three and a half hours for his alleged involvement in injecting insecticides in around 50 palm trees on Baigachha Road in Rajshahi's Bagmara upazila.

Expressing sheer dismay, the bench of Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman and Justice AKM Rabiul Hassan said there are some "beasts" who have no concern for trees and can inflict damage on themfor their own interest.

"Trees have lives. Those [injected with insecticide] have been injured to a point that they cannot be saved anymore.

"Such people [who harm trees] cannot be made civilised by any law if they don't learn values and norms from their families. If such beasts of the society remain unpunished, the trees will not be protected. Our duty is to find all those who have been merciless with the trees," the bench said after seeing photos of damaged trees during the hearing of a suo muto(voluntary) rule.

Earlier in the day, Shahriar Alam, senior vice president of Bagmara upazila's Shubhadanga union, appeared before the bench in compliance with its summons order.

He submitted an affidavit through his lawyer Md Zahedul Haque Zahid and claimed he was not involved in the incident and did not know who had damaged the trees.

Shahriar was kept standing in the courtroom from 11:00am to 1:00pm and then from 2:30pm to 4:00pm till the end of the court proceedings. 

The court ordered him to appear before the bench in person again on February 23.

It then also ordered the officer-in-charge of Rajhshahi's Bagmara Police Station to appear before it on that date and submit a report describing what legal action has been taken in connection with the damage of the trees.

During the proceedings, Bagmara Upazila Agriculture Officer Md Abdur Razzak submitted a probe report saying that palm trees on Baigachha road in Rajshahi's Bagmara upazila have been damaged by using insecticides.

Meanwhile, Shahriar Alam verbally confessed before the probe committee, led by the upazila nirbahi officer of Bagmara, that he injected the insecticides into the stems of the palm trees as his mango trees don't grow due to the palm trees at the area.

He, however, refused to give any written statement to this effect, Agriculture Officer Md Abdur Razzak said in the report.    

Following a report and editorial published on Bangla Daily Prothom Alo, the HC bench on February 1 summoned Shahriar Alam to appear before it yesterday in this regard.