Sylhet Bureau

A bulkhead (steel-body) loaded with mineral sand worth half a crore taka has mysteriously disappeared from Jadukata, yet the Union Land Assistant Officer (Tahsildar) claims it is still in custody!

On Wednesday, local residents near the border river Jadukata in Tahirpur, Sunamganj, reported that on May 25, while a bulkhead was illegally loading mineral sand in the lease-free, mineral-rich Jadukata River, they informed the Upazila administration and police.

Upon learning that the administration was launching an operation, the group claiming ownership of the illegally extracted mineral sand – along with the bulkhead’s crew, workers, and captain – fled the scene, leaving behind the bulkhead on the eastern bank of the Jadukata River in the Laurgarh area at around 4:30 PM. The bulkhead, worth approximately 45 lakh taka, contained about 3,000 cubic feet of mineral sand valued at around 2.31 lakh taka.

Later, Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) and Executive Magistrate Md. Abul Hashem, along with police, Ansar, public representatives, and locals, searched for the owners, workers, and crew of the bulkhead, but found no trace of them.

Afterward, the illegally extracted and dumped mineral sand (worth nearly half a crore taka), stored along the riverbank after riverbank excavation, was officially taken into custody by Tahirpur Sadar Union Land Assistant Officer (Tahsildar) Zahur Ahmed and Ward 8 member of Badaghat Union Parishad, Fayez Ahmed Fazu, a resident of Laurgarh (Dhalarpar) village.

Allegations suggest that even after the lease period for the Jadukata sand zone expired, around 1 crore cubic feet of mineral sand and several lakh cubic feet of stones, boulders, and singles were illegally extracted and dumped from khas land, riverbanks, and croplands on both sides of the Jadukata River. Despite policy guidelines prohibiting dumping sand and stone near riverbanks, certain groups are attempting to covertly remove mineral sand and stones worth billions of taka without paying VAT, income tax, or government dues.

Some individuals, using false information, have approached higher courts and filed writ petitions claiming ownership of the sand and stones in order to stealthily remove them. Accusations against several locals claim that, after extraction, they collected bribes from others citing administrative expenses amounting to half a crore taka, then divided the money among themselves. Now, under various pretenses, they are quietly waiting to transport and sell the sand and stones across the country via road and waterways.

On Wednesday, UP member Fayez Ahmed Fazu of Ward 8 in Badaghat Union said that the bulkhead full of sand, previously in custody, was recently stolen from the Jadukata riverbank by the same people who claimed to be the owners – including the bulkhead’s captain, crew, and workers. He added that he had informed the Tahsildar about this.

On the same day, Tahirpur Sadar Union Land Assistant Officer (Tahsildar) Zahur Ahmed said the sand-laden bulkhead was in the custody of the UP member. When asked where the bulkhead was now, he replied that apparently, it was stolen a few days ago while still under custody.