Rights body moves HC for cuprits’ arrest – Hindu family land grabbing matter in Bangladesh

imagesA rights organisation yesterday filed a writ petition with the High Court seeking the court’s order on the police to arrest the people responsible for forcibly grabbing the land of a Hindu family in Lalmonirhat.
The Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh submitted the petition following a report published in The Daily Star on March 2 under the headline “Hindu’s land grabbed by AL leader”.
In the petition, the HRPB prayed to the HC to direct the government to ensure security of the Hindus in Patgram and protect their rights to property.

It also urged the court to ask the government to form a committee to investigate the allegations against the ruling Awami League men.
Manzill Murshid, president of the rights body, told The Daily Star that the HC might hear the petition today.
Rabiul Islam Miron, president of the AL Bawra union unit, forcibly grabbed a piece of land of Bhabani Kanta Sen at Rasulpur village in Patgram.
After the report was published, the administration asked the local police to take action. But police are yet to take any action in this regard. Instead, they tried to solve it through arbitration.

Patgram Police Station Officer-in-Charge Amiruzzaman held a meeting at the grabbed land yesterday, and formed a five-member arbitration committee to solve the matter in absence of grabber Rabiul, our district correspondent reports.
As per the decision of the meeting, the committee asked Bhabani to sell the land to Rabiul’s elder brother, Jaynul Abedin Dulu, and fixed March 13 for the land registry.

“I wanted the police to give me the land back after removing structures built there. But nobody in the meeting supported me as the locals, including Hindus, did not dare to support me fearing attack by the AL leader,” said Bhabani.
The committee fixed the price of the 32-decimal plot of land at Tk 1.80 lakh, locals said. But the present rate of each decimal of land ranges from Tk 12,000 to 20,000 in the area.

On February 9, Bhabani and his two sons were picked up by AL men and held hostage at AL leader Nazrul Islam’s house where the trio were forced to sign a document stating that they were handing over the land to Rabiul. Nazrul is one of the members of the committee formed by OC Amiruzzaman yesterday.
The other members are AL leader Abdus Samad, and Sunil Chandra Sen, Anil Chdnara Sen and Nasimuddin.
A case was filed with Patgram police on February 16.

Contacted, the OC said police appreciate the decision taken by the local people. They would take action if Bhabani does not comply with the decision taken at the meeting, the OC added.
Asked, Bhabani said he would not obey the decision and go to police station tomorrow (today).
Contacted, Rabiul’s elder brother Jaynul declined to talk.

Source: The Daily Star