Dharmajan tree felling 'fest' continues
Part of the forest under Dharmajan beat in Biral upazila of Dinajpur district gives a pitiable look as criminals allegedly belonging to the ruling party felled over 2,600 acacia and eucalyptus trees in the area during the last three days, allegedly as part of their plan to grab the land.Photo: STAR
Criminals allegedly belonging to the ruling party felled 2,500 more acacia and eucalyptus trees of Dharmajan forest beat under Biral upazila on Saturday and Sunday nights. With these, as many as 2600 trees on 11 acres of forest land were chopped down on the three consecutive nights---Friday to Sunday, according to forest officials. On Friday night, around 150 people led by Md Alamgir Hossain, general secretary of Dharmapur union Jubo League, felled 110 trees of the forest beat. Being informed by locals, forest official Md Sadequr Rahman along with a police team of Jagatpur police camp reached there at around 11:30pm. Sensing the arrival of the law enforcers, Alamgir and his men fled the scene. The forest official filed a case with Biral Police Station on Sunday, accusing 167 people. Of the accused, 17, including Alamgir, are identified, while the rest unidentified, said Md Abdul Kader Zilani, officer-in-Charge (OC) of Biral Police Station. After filing of the case, police arrested three people from Bongaon village under the upazila. The arrestees are Ishat Ali, 45, son of late Syed Ali, Janab Ali, 44, son of Moazzem Ali, and Abdus Sobhan, 46, son of Mamtaz Ali. Forest officials quoted locals as saying that around 200 people led by Jubo League leader Alamgir Hossain, cut down the trees on Saturday and Sunday nights. Alamgir, brother of Dharmapur Union Parishad Chairman Nur Islam, carried out this criminal act in a bid to grab the forest land, forest officials alleged. Forest officials yesterday visited the spot and took the felled trees to Dharmapur forest office. Jubo League leader Alamgir Hossain could not be contacted despite repeated attempts as his cellphone remained off. Contacted, Officer-in-Charge Md Abdul Kader Zilani of Biral Police Station said the identified accused, including Alamgir Hossain, had gone into hiding. “We are raiding different areas to arrest them,” he added. Md Anwar Hossain, former UP member and president of 101-member forest Protection Committee, alleged that police arrested three innocent villagers instead of the real culprits. He demanded immediate arrest of the main accused and his accomplices.
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