Survey of 700 acres occupied by Indians to start tomorrow
Indian officials yesterday said they would start survey tomorrow of 700 acres of land, which had been lying under Indian occupation for decades.
Returning from the Indian side through Sheola border at 6:00 pm yesterday, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Revenue, Sylhet Ahmed Shamim Al Razi, also co-ordinator of the regional survey team told this correspondent that it was agreed at a joint meeting held in the district of Karimganj in Assam.
Director survey Md Iqbal Hossain also joined the meeting while the Indian team included head of the boundary cell of the external affairs Girish Kumar, director of the land survey of Assam Sonmai Barua and deputy commissioner of Karimganj MK Das.
At the 6-hour long meeting we raised the claim on 140 acres of land on Noagaon border in Beanibazar upazila of Sylhet district and on 359 acres on Pallathol border of Jury upazila in Moulvibazar district, said ADC Shamim al Razi.
They agreed to resume survey immediately as we presented the documents in support of our claims, he said.
Hopefully the survey will start tomorrow, he added.
Earlier, the Indo-Bangla joint survey of the Sylhet-Meghalaya border stumbled for the fourth time as Bangladesh team could not do their job on the Protappur-Padua border in the face of resistance by the Indians on Wednesday.
An official informed that the survey team went to the border at about 10:30am. But they could not reach the adversely possessed lands (APL), close to border pillar 1271, in face of resistance by Indians. Waiting for over two hours they had to come back, he said.
Sources said, over 200 acres of land are under Indian possession for long on the said border. The BDR and BSF locked in several clashes and traded thousands of gunshots during the last few years. In 2001, BDR captured a part of the area, but they had to retreat later.
The border people are opposing the survey as they fear that the lands would be handed over to the Indians in the name of joint survey.
The joint survey on the APL on the said borders was suspended on several occasions since 20 June in face of protests by border people at different points. However it resumed 13 July after the administration held several view exchange meetings with the locals to allay their fear.
The officials told the locals that the survey is being held to resolve problems, not to hand over their lands to Indians.
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