Kazi Mamun:
Local residents were suddenly woken up by the sound of a digging machine late at night, and they rushed out of their houses to see soil being dug with a digging machine in their crop lands next to their houses. A local who did not want to be named said that although we were a little worried at first, when we went forward, we saw four or five people including Abu Saleh carrying indigenous weapons, sticks, ramda, and iron rods. When asked why the soil was being dug with a digging machine, Abu Saleh got into an argument, and later, after a huge argument, the accused Abu Saleh and his associates fled due to the anger of the locals, said Abul Basar and the locals. In the morning, the consumer Abul Basar Chakidar filed a written complaint with the police station. Abul Basar told the reporter, my purchased property is garden and crop land at plot no. 182 of khatian 141 of Sharikkhari Moiza, which I have been occupying for a long time.
As the incident unfolds, four or five people including Md. Abu Salhe (43) cut down more than three hundred banana trees and more than two hundred different species of fruit and forest trees and cut down crop land with a hoe machine in ward no. 9 of Sharikkhali of Itbaria UP of Patuakhali Sadar Upazila late at night. There had been a dispute over land with Md. Abu Saleh for a long time. Both of them are residents of ward no. 9 of Sharikkhali. The injured and local residents allege that this incident was planned in advance due to land disputes. Locals said that on 16/3/25 at around 2 am, four or five people, including the son of the deceased Maulana Ismail, tried to make a pond or a fence on the cropland by cutting down more than 500 trees of various species, including banana trees, without telling anyone, using a pruning machine.
The victim, Abul Basar, said, “Abu Saleh, since my land is in front of his house, has been creating various complications with my land for a long time to widen and beautify the boundary of his house. I informed the locals about the matter several times, but it did not yield any results. Abu Saleh, a local dignitary, without paying attention to anyone, illegally used his money and muscle power to cut down more than 500 trees of various species, including banana trees, mahogany, and rendi, in the dead of night, causing me a loss of about three lakh taka. I hope for a fair trial.”
On the other hand, when Police Sub-Inspector Md. Russell Hossain visited the scene of the incident on charges of cutting down trees and digging up cropland with a shovel, he admitted the truth of the incident to the media and said, “I am aware of the entire matter. I will inform my superiors about the entire matter and try to take legal action against the real accused,” he told the reporter.
When Abu Salehe, the accused in the case of cutting down fruit trees and digging up cropland with a shovel late at night, was not found at the scene of the incident, he was called several times, but he did not answer the phone.
Views: 2
