Kulaura tea estate files lawsuit to evict Catholic welfare mission

The Lakshmipur Catholic Mission has been working in the area since 1982, helping the local poor including tribal people through its various welfare programmes. In 1988, the mission bought the two-acre land near the Rose Tea Estate, formerly Rangichhara Tea Estate, from one Elias Miah.

Elias Miah said he had bought the land in the 70s from Nawab Ali Yawar Khan, whose family owned the then Rangichhara Tea Estate. The Khan family later sold the estate to one Rashida Islam.

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Elias Miah said he had made regular land tax payments and later sold the land to the mission.

Bijoy D Cruz, a priest of the Catholic Mission, alleged that the tea estate authorities were involved in a conspiracy against the mission and trying to grab its land by filing a false case.

Rose Tea Estate authorities have filed a case against Elias Miah, one Muhib Miah and Father Joseph of the Lakshmipur Catholic Mission.

"We are here to serve local people. The land they are trying to occupy is used for the welfare of orphans and local people know it very well," Cruz said.

However, A Qaiyum Chowdhury, general manager of the tea estate, told The Daily Star that the case was filed on the basis of original documents. "A leased land cannot be sold. So we filed the case to recover our land," he said, adding that the tea estate owns 5000 acres of land and the idea that it is trying to grab the 2-acre land is absurd.