<i>Evicted, where do they go now?</i>
Driven out from their house at Miapara in Rajshahi city by an influential land grabber ten days ago, members of this Hindu family are staying on the premises of Dharmasava, a Hindu religious institution in the city. They are still facing threat from the grabber, who allegedly got physically challenged Nepal Chandra Saha, head of the victim family, arrested in a 'false' case.Photo: STAR
Wife and children of a physically challenged motor worker are passing hard days under the open sky on the premises of Rajshahi Dharmasava for the last ten days since an influential land grabber illegally evicted them from their house at nearby Miapara in the city. Adding to their misery, police arrested the worker, Nepal Chandra Saha, in a 'false' case for keeping drugs, the victims told reporters at the scene yesterday. “We allowed Nepal's wife Aroti Rani Saha, their teenage daughter Joya Rani Saha and nine-year-old son Akash Chanda Saha to live on our premises over humanitarian grounds. We cannot say how long we can do so,” said Prof Dr Sujit Kumar Sarker, general secretary of the Dharmasava, a Hindu religious institution. “We are living here with our households taking one or two meals a day...it is difficult to stay here with children during the rains,” said Aroti. On July 23, hired goons of Gopal Kundu, a rich jewellery shop owner, evicted them from their house on a piece of 6.5-katha land at Miapara and threw out their household goods. Minutes before the eviction, the goons stormed Nepal's bedroom and called police, Aroti said, adding that plain-cloth police officers arrested Nepal after seizing several packets of ganja from beneath his bed where the goons had sat a while ago. “The goons beat me, my children in presence of police. Police officials too abused us,” she said. She said they had been living at the house since she inherited the land in 2003. She lodged a civil case with a Rajshahi court when Gopal claimed ownership of the land and started threatening to evict them five months ago. A criminal case was also lodged against the land grabber and his goons when they attempted to evict them in May. Gopal Kundu, on the other hand, told this correspondent that he bought the land in 2003 and Nepal started living there taking his house on rent from 2009. Replying to a question, he said it was not an offence to evict him when the land issue was under trial. Gopal said Nepal's family was evicted in presence of police officers from Boalia police station and a large number of people including two ward councillors. Asked about the matter, both ward councillors said Nepal and his wife are bad people and they claimed ownership of the rented house. Jasim Uddin, officer-in-charge of Boalia police station said, "Police were not present during the eviction. I am not aware of the eviction... Nepal is an identified drug peddler, we arrested him over a tip off. The eviction might have occurred later.” Contacted again for her comments over the versions, Aroti said that the influential land grabber was still spending money to prove them criminals in order to capture the land. At Miapara, the neighbours showed unwillingness to talk with the media over the matter.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments