Betel on 500 bighas of land torched
The fourth arson attack in the area since Feb causes Tk 20 crore damage
A betel leaf plantation at Raigram village in Kaliganj upazila of Jhenidah district is in flames as an alleged arson attack wreaked havoc on betel gardens in four adjoining villages yesterday.Photo: STAR
A devastating fire destroyed over 1000 betel leaf gardens on around 500 bighas of land in four villages of Kaliganj upazila in Jhenidah district, causing damage worth around Tk 20 crore yesterday. Against the backdrop of three arson attacks on a few betel gardens in the same upazila last month, the large-scale blaze is seen as a testimony to a section of criminals' growing desperate to commit such heinous crimes. The fire also burnt three houses and destroyed hundreds of bamboo clusters in the affected villages, namely, Raigram, Dulalmundia, Shingi and Raigram Daspara. "I saw smoke in a betel leaf garden at noon. The fire spread very fast and gutted more than 1,000 betel gardens including betel leaf processing materials," said Gaziar Rahman, an elderly resident of Raigram village. Visiting the spot when the fire was still blazing, this correspondent saw locals busy trying to extinguish the fire. Thousands of people who thronged around seemed helpless before the blazing inferno. On information, fire fighting units from Jhenidah Sadar and Kotchandpur reached the spot. After frantic efforts for a couple of hours, the firefighters and locals brought the blaze under control at about 4:00pm. At least 1000 betel leaf gardens were torched in the blaze, said fire service official Lutfor Rahman. A large number of people gathered on the ground of Raigram High School in fear of the spreading fire. Senkar Sen, Alamgir, Krishna, Bijoy, Nitya Pada, Kanan, Ananda, Santosh, Shankor, Anis, Kumaresh, Bhajo, Dilip, Paltan Pal, Chansal Das are among the worst victims of the fire that destroyed the over 1,000 betel gardens belonging to 1100 farmers. Several farmers wishing anonymity told this correspondent that most of the betel leaf farmers belong to the minority Hindu community and some influential people want to force them to leave Bangladesh to get the opportunity to buy their lands for nominal prices. Besides, some land owners who leased their land to the minority people at lower rates a few years ago want to get it back before expiry of the lease period. They are also behind torching the gardens, said several victims. On information, Deputy Commissioner Roma Rani Roym, Superintendent of Police Rezaul Karim, ASP Mostafizur Rahman, Kaliganj upazila Chairman Anwarul Azam, UNO Anjumanara Begum and Kaliganj police station Officer in Charge (OC) Faruk Hossain visited the spot. The mystery behind the fire incident that caused indescribable loss to the farmers is yet to be unearthed, OC Faruk Hossain said. "The torching of betel leaf gardens on 500 bighas of land has caused loss of at least Tk 20 crore," said Kaliganj upazila Chairman Anwarul Azim.
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