A local BNP leader as well as some 400 influential people have allegedly grabbed a piece of land allotted for a Baneshwar haat in Puthia upazila.
Consequently, traders have long been forced to run business on the sides of the busy Dhaka-Rajshahi Highway, causing tailback for hours. Accidents are also taking place on the highway as drivers are desperate to cross the place as soon as they can.
The local land authorities have already made a list of 408 grabbers, including BNP leader Abu Sayed Chand, and have sought permission from the district administration to evict the grabbers from the market place.
Abu Sayed Chand, president of Charghat upazila unit of the BNP and the party’s central committee member, is also the chairman of the upazila. He along with the others erected shops, grabbing the 16-bigha haat several years ago and rented those.
Locals claim that the market was established 200 years ago. The government’s yearly earning from it about Tk1 crore. Businessmen and farmers from nearby areas come to the market to sell their produces. Thus, the market has turned into an important source for the locals to meet their daily demands.
Visiting the place, this correspondent found that Nosimon and Korimon – locally assembled vehicles – that carried goods to the market were parked on both sides of the highway, worsening the tailback stretched about 1km. As a result, the passengers of long-route buses were suffering most.
When contacted, however, BNP leader Chand denied the allegations, saying: “I have necessary documents in favour of the land and I will legally handle the matter.”
About foiling his move of establishing a high-rise building there by the last caretaker government, he said: “The state authorities forcefully demolished my under-construction building in the absence of my family members.”
Locals alleged that the other 407 grabbers were also backed by different political parties.
Acknowledging the grabbing of Baneshwar market land, Puthia Upazila Nirbahi Officer Khandakar Farhad Ahmed said: “The traders have been compelled to take position on the highway for their business owing to the occupation. As a result, pedestrians and passengers are falling victims to various sorts of accidents as well as tailback.”
They were just waiting for the green signal of the deputy commissioner to evict the grabbers from the land, the UNO added.
