Land grabber remains defiant

A local Awami League leader, who grabbed the playground of Langurbeel Government Primary School in Teknaf upazila on Wednesday night, did not remove the barbed wire fences erected around the ground as of yesterday despite a directive given by a magistrate.
Over 100 people, led by local Awami League leader and former Teknaf Sadar Union Parishad (UP) Chairman Jafar Alam, illegally occupied the playground and erected barber wire fences around it.
As Assistant Commissioner (land) Selina Kazi, also an executive magistrate, went to the spot to recover the playground on Saturday, Jafar and his men put up a strong resistance to the drive. In the face of resistance, the magistrate launched the drive and demolished a house built by the grabber on the playground.
Magistrate Selina Kazi postponed the drive after the grabber sought a 24-hour time to remove the fences. She accepted the appeal and left the spot, asking the grabber to remove the fences within the timeframe.
Though the deadline ended yesterday, the grabber didn't comply with the directive as of filing of this report at 6:00pm.
This correspondent could not talk to Jafar Alam yesterday as he was asleep, keeping the cellphone switched off.