<i>That's how he muscles in on land of Hindu family</i>
The chairman of Mohammadpur upazila parishad in Magura district has set up this boundary wall around a house of a Hindu family allegedly in a bid to grab 22 decimals of land belonging to the family at the upazila headquarters.
Members of a Hindu family at Mohammadpur upazila headquarters are passing worrying days due to pressure by the upazila parishad chairman in an alleged bid to grab 22 decimals of their land. During a visit to the area on Monday, this correspondent found that upazila Chairman Golam Rabbani, also president of the upazila unit of ruling Awami League, set up a boundary wall, obstructing the entry and the exit of the house and surrounding a room of the family. A team led by Nanda Dulal Bangshi, district unit president of Hindu Bouddha Christian Oikya Parishad, and advocate Prodyut Kumar Singh, president of Puja Celebration Committee, yesterday met the upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) of Mohammadpur and demanded immediate demolition of the boundary wall set up by the upazila chairman on the Hindu family's land. On November 30, Dr Sanjoy Datta, one of the two brothers owning the land, filed a general diary with Mohammadpur police station regarding the land grabbing. In a written plea given to the local journalists on Monday, Sanjoy said his father late Sukumar Datta, former headmaster of RSKH School at Mohammadpur upazila headquarters, sold 22 decimals out of 54 decimals of land of his house adjacent to upazila parishad office, to Golam Rabbani. "I and my elder brother Samir Datta inherited the rest 32 decimals of land as our father died in April 2008. But Golam Rabbani has set up boundary wall enclosing 44 decimals of land of which 22 decimals belong to us," goes the written statement. "Due to the pressure created by Rabbani, my brother migrated to India. Afterwards, Rabbani and his men gave death threat to me and my mother. In last October, they felled the trees on the land of our house and took those away. Now they have constructed wall obstructing the entry and the exit of our house," it adds. Contacted, Golam Rabbani claimed that he gave all the money to Sukumar Datta for purchasing 44 decimals of land but after the registration of 22 decimals, he suddenly died. When asked, Rabbani, however, failed to show any document regarding the payment of money to Sukumar. Refuting Rabbani's claim, Dr Sanjoy told this correspondent, "My father sold 22 decimals of land only to Rabbani and the mutation of the rest 32 decimals of land of the house has already been completed in the names of my elder brother Samir and me. Mohammadpur union parishad authorities also gave us the inheritance certificate for the land in November 2008." When contacted, officer in charge of Mohammadpur police station Mohammad Sagir Mian admitted the setting up of the boundary wall by the upazila chairman. "We have asked for stopping the construction work on the disputed land until settlement of the matter," he added. Contacted over cell phone, Mohammadpur UNO Mohammad Shamsuddoza said he will take initiative to settle the issue within a short time.
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