Criminals force slum dwellers to leave shanties at Mirpur

Members of different local gangs have already occupied the land after ousting many dwellers and threatened others who are trying to rebuild their shanties in the slum, dwellers said.

The criminals fired four to five rounds of blank shots yesterday morning in the slum to create a panic among the slum dwellers, a local resident told The Daily Star over phone yesterday.

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However, Mirpur police said they had no report of gunshots in the slum areas. Police said their petrol team is visiting the spot frequently to check encroachment of the slum land by the criminals.

Police also arrested one alleged criminal from the slum yesterday.

Locals said a gang of 11 claiming themselves as accused in the murder case of ward commissioner Saydur Rahman Newton yesterday threatened the slum dwellers not to build any shanty there.

They also exploded three cocktails to create panic in the area on Tuesday evening, the slum dwellers said.

They said another gang of eight also went to the slum yesterday morning and claimed themselves as owners of the slum land.

Duty officer of Mirpur thana, however, said no slum dweller lodged any such complain with them.

The blaze broke out at a shanty on the northeastern corner of the slum at around 11:40pm on Monday to reduce more than 500 dwellings to ashes and made nearly 3,000 people homeless.