Attempt to grab govt land by spreading rumors

A group of people have allegedly tried to grab a government canal land in Nazirpur upazila by spreading false information on social media.

On July 6, a video went viral on Facebook, where it was seen that an employee of the upazila land office was removing a fence from the lands of canal beside a government road near Dighirjan Bazar in Nazirpur.

In the video, a man also claimed that some people were grabbing their land by torturing Hindu men.

He also claimed that the land of 200-year-old Shib Temple at the house of Manindranath Majumder in the bazar area has been grabbed. The temple has also been vandalized.

But on July 8, the president and general secretary of Pirojpur district unit Puja Udjapan Parishad at a press conference at Pirojpur Press Club said no incident of temple vandalisation and land grabbing happened in Nazirpur upazila.

Gopal Chandra Basu, general secretary of the parishad, said there has been longstanding conflict between Manindranath Majumder and the authorities of Nazirpur upazila land office over the canal land.

He further added that when the employees of Nazirpur upazila land office went there, someone captured the video.

Some vested quarters are spreading rumors by posting the video on Facebook, he said.

They have visited the spot and found no evidence of grabbing and vandalising the temple, said Gopal Basu, adding that a group of people were spreading rumors through Facebook with an ill motive to hinder the development activities of the government.

Manindranath Majumder's son Dipten Majumder Bappi also said no incident of grabbing and vandalising the temple at their house happened.

He added that the men of the upazila land office forcibly removed a fence to grab their 11 decimals of land of the canal.

But he could not say who captured the video and posted it on Facebook.

Meanwhile, Fahmi Md Shaief, assistant commissioner (AC-Land) of Nazirpur, said a group of people tried to grab a canal of the government after filling up it with sand and erected fence around it.

"To free 91 decimals of land of the canal from the occupiers, we have removed the fence," he said.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) Abu Ali M Sazzad Hossain said they will demark the government land immediately so that none can grab it.

They will take legal steps against the culprits who have spread rumors over the issue, the DC said, adding that a group of people were trying to grab government land using religious cover. 

Hyatul Islam Khan, superintendent of police in Pirojpur, said they were trying to identify those persons who have spread false information on social media.