Grabbers muscle in on land of 9 families
Confine them to their houses for weeks
These people among over 40 members belonging to nine families at Uttar Ambari Paisafela village in Gomnati union of Domar upazila under Nilphamari district cannot go outside their house compound as influential neighbours blocked their movement through the road that serves as the only link with other places. Photo: STAR
Nine families at Uttar Ambari Paisafela village of Gomnati union in Domar upazila under the district have remained virtually confined to their houses for over one and a half months as influential neighbours blocked the road that served as their link to other places. Ramjan Ali, 60, of Uttar Ambari Paisafela village owns several acres of paternal land but he has a land dispute with neighbour Umar Ali, 55, said locals. On July 22, Umar and his men came to Ramjan and claimed that he (Ramjan) was illegally occupying their two acres of land. Umar demanded handing over possession of the land. As Ramjan and his relatives protested, a bloody clash occurred on the spot and 14-15 people of the two groups were injured. Both groups filed separate cases in a Nilphamari court regarding the incident. "After the incident, the influential opponent group used to chase us regularly, hurled abuses and threw stones at our houses. On the day after the Eid-ul-Fitr (August 22), they put a strong bamboo fence, obstructing our movement through the only road in front of our house,” Ramjan said. “I could not take my ailing father to hospital as the opponents guard the fence on the road with lethal weapons,” said Obaidul Islam, 36, guardian of a victim family. Visiting the area on October 1, this correspondent saw that over 40 members of the affected families are leading a miserable life, as they cannot sell agricultural products in the market and buy necessary things. Seven children of the families had to stop going to school and madrasa. Ramjan on behalf of the victim families lodged a case with the Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court in Nilphamari a few days ago seeking steps to ensure their free movement. For this he had to leave house at dead of night, walk through a muddy paddy field and pass night at a relative's house. As per directive of the court, sub inspector (SI) Md Ruhani of Domar police station investigated the matter and submitted a report to the court a couple of days ago. Ramjan alleged that SI Ruhani behaved harshly with them during investigation while the police officer said both the parties are responsible for the deadlock. Ramjan and his relatives Alimuddin, Md Ali, Hossain Mia, Nazrul and Shahidul alleged that they had complained to the local union parishad (UP) chairman but he did nothing for them. Gomnati UP Chairman Younus Ali said, "I sat with the two parties to settle the dispute but both the parties were uncompromising. I shall sit again within a few days to solve the problem." "It is obviously a human rights violation if anybody puts obstruction on a road, hindering free movement of people," said advocate Abdul Wahab, former president of district lawyers' association. Contacted, Ramjan's opponent Umar Ali said, "The road is not recorded in the mouja land map. Ramjan's late father had sold his land to us long ago and now he (Ramjan) has no right on it."
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments