Hatiya ( Noakhali) Correspondent

A proposal was made to resolve a land dispute. When no consent was obtained, financial temptation was shown. When that also failed, a case was filed. The case of extortion was filed in court. In the report submitted by court order, the SI acknowledged the incident as true. This has caused significant harassment for rural doctor Nur Uddin and several helpless day laborers in the village. The incident took place in the Burirchar Union of Hatia, Noakhali.

Meanwhile, the main witness of this extortion case, Samsul Alam, stated that the allegation of extortion is not true. He said that to file a case, one has to mix truth with lies. He is the number 1 witness in this case. Yet, he knows nothing about the extortion.

Not just Samsul Alam, other witnesses in the case, including Maulana Fakhrul Islam and Belal Uddin, said they know nothing about the case. They were made witnesses in the case without prior knowledge. Journalists spoke with these witnesses multiple times over the phone. These conversations were recorded.

Locals reported that the land ownership dispute has been ongoing for several years between the family of Md. Ali and the family of rural doctor Nur Uddin. Md. Ali’s home is in Chandipur Union, Ramganj Upazila, Laxmipur District. The dispute is over land adjacent to the home of rural doctor Nur Uddin in Jorkhali village of Burirchar Union, Hatia. Md. Ali’s ancestors owned several properties here. Due to the land dispute, and failure to bring the other party to a compromise, Md. Ali allegedly filed an extortion case against several poor and helpless individuals with malicious intent. Some local people are allegedly helping Md. Ali in this.

According to the victim's family, a case to determine the land ownership is already ongoing in court. However, on April 10, Md. Ali suddenly filed an extortion case against 8 people in the Hatia Senior Judicial Magistrate Court. The court directed Hatia police station to investigate and submit a report. 

The responsibility was given to Sub-Inspector Farhad Hossain of Sagaria Police Outpost. He conducted the investigation and submitted a report to the court. He stated that he spoke with 7 of the 11 witnesses. He also submitted signed statements of each witness. In reality, the opposite was found. Many of the witnesses informed the victim’s family members that they never met the investigating officer.

Accused in the extortion case, rural doctor Md. Nur Uddin, said, “We have had a dispute over inherited land ownership with Md. Ali for several years. The land that was allotted to our ancestors is now recorded in their name. We have filed a court case seeking cancellation of that record. Fearing that the verdict may go against them, they are trying to harass me in various ways. They are threatening us socially using various people. As nothing else worked, they filed a false extortion case against me and some helpless people. All other accused are poor day laborers. The case is completely false. Md. Ali lives in Laxmipur and rarely comes to Hatia. He is orchestrating all this by bribing some locals.”

Regarding the matter, investigating officer Sub-Inspector Farhad Hossain of Sagaria Police Outpost said, “After the case was filed, I asked Nur Uddin to settle the matter amicably. He did not listen. When asked how he filed the report even though witnesses knew nothing about the extortion case, he said everyone gave written statements. When told that conversations with the witnesses were recorded, he tried to evade the matter.”

Hatiya Police Station OC  AKM Azmal Huda said, “If there were any objections about the investigation report, I should have been informed before it was submitted. It is the police’s job to find the truth. Even so, I will look into the matter.”