Bhabani Sen's land still in grip of grabbers

Bhabani Kanta Sen along with his wife, two sons and elderly mother are passing a hard time as their land is under the control of illegal occupiers at Rasulpur village in Patgram upazila under the district.

"As they occupied my 32 decimals of arable land, I am working as a day labourer. The case is under trial with the District and Sessions Judge's Court, but the grabbers built houses and raised orchards and are cultivating crops on my land," said Bhabani, 46, a resident of Rasulpur village of Bawra union in Patgram.

"I don't have the ability to appoint any lawyer for legal battle against the land grabbers, but they have appointed expert lawyer for fighting the case," he said.

"We dared not protest when the land grabbers started building more houses on our land six months ago," said Bhabani's son Bidyut Chandra Sen, 18.

Advocate Manzil Murshid, president of rights organisation Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh, filed a writ petition with the High Court on March 2 in 2014, after The Daily Star the same day ran a report headlined "Hindu's land grabbed by AL leader".

After hearing the petition on March 9, a High Court bench comprising Justice Kazi Rezaul Haque and Justice ABM Altaf Hossain issued an order to police for arresting the land grabbers within 48 hours.

The next day, a case was lodged with Hatibandha Police Station accusing alleged land grabbers Rabiul Islam Miron, president of Bawra union unit of Awami League (AL), and his cohorts Nazrul Islam, vice-president of Rasulpur ward AL, and Mukul Hossain, president of Bawra union Jubo League and AL activists Anar Khan, 55, Sultan Khan, 58, and Abdus Samad Khan, sons of late Hossain Ali Khan of Rasulpur village.

Police arrested Anar Ali Khan and Sultan Khan on March 12, but the main accused Rabiul Islam Miron and others went into hiding. Now all of them are under bail, police said.

"On February 9 in 2014, AL men grabbed the poor Hindu family's 32 decimals of arable land, built a structure there and forced Bhabani Kanta Sen and his sons Bidhan Chandra Sen, 18, and Bidyut Chandra Sen, 16, to sign on a non-judicial stamp. Police recovered the stamps on March 12, 2014," said Rezaul Karim, officer in charge of Hatibandha Police Station.

After investigation, police submitted charge sheet against the accused on August 31 in 2014, he said.

Bhabani Kanta Sen said he needs help to run the case properly so that he can get back his land from the grabbers.