Noakhali Correspondent

In Subarnachar, Noakhali, it has been alleged that some active workers of the ruling Awami League, identifying themselves as BNP supporters, forcibly occupied land belonging to local Awami League leader and former UP member Aleya Begum and began constructing shops on it.

On Tuesday morning, the illegal shop construction began publicly at Khaserhat road junction in the upazila. Earlier, in the dead of night on May 2 (Friday), local Awami League activist Sheikh Farid Uddin, his brother Zaker Hossain, and an armed group allegedly attempted to seize the land by force.

Victim Aleya Begum claimed that Sheikh Farid Uddin and his brother Zaker Hossain, along with a group of miscreants, have been trying for a long time to forcibly take over her legally owned and possessed one acre and 56 decimal land. After August 5, they started claiming to be BNP supporters and intensified their attempts to grab the land. Two related cases are ongoing in court, and she has also filed complaints at the police station.

She added that on Tuesday morning, Sheikh Farid and Zaker Hossain hired goons to forcibly enter her land and begin building shop structures. When she tried to stop them, they chased her with local weapons, intending to kill her. Fearing for her life, she took shelter in a safe place and called the Char Jabbar police station, but received no assistance. She later contacted the Noakhali camp of the Bangladesh Army, who advised her to file a complaint with the Upazila Assistant Commissioner (Land). She then lodged the complaint with Subarnachar Assistant Commissioner (Land) Chenmong Rakhine, who visited the site and ordered a halt to the construction, stating that no work could be done without a court order.

Aleya Begum further said that after the Assistant Commissioner left the site, the miscreants resumed cutting soil from her land. She appealed to the administration for immediate help.

When asked about the incident, Char Jabbar Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Shahin Mia said that he had not been informed by either party and knew nothing about the shop construction.

Subarnachar Upazila Assistant Commissioner (Land) and Executive Magistrate Chenmong Rakhine ssid,  based on an oral complaint by Aleya Begum, a site inspection revealed that the opposing party was cutting soil from agricultural land to build shops. Since this constitutes a change in land classification, the work was ordered to be stopped and it was instructed that no further activity be undertaken without formal authorization.