A Correspondent:
Patuakhali: A minority family in Patuakhali has alleged assault, intimidation and attempts to grab their land by local influential people in Marichbunia union under the sadar upazila.
At a press conference held at the Patuakhali Press Club on Saturday noon, victim Gopal Majhi read out a written statement detailing the allegations.
He said some locals had long been trying to forcibly occupy their recorded and possessed land. Accord-ing to him, he owns about 40 decimals of land in the Marichbunia mouza area. He alleged that due to the land dispute, several people including local Awami League leader and now a member of Bangladesh Krishak Dal, Zakir Bhuiya, along with Suman Payda, Nasir Akon, Harun Matbar, Jafar Bhuiya and Ni-zam Payda, have repeatedly threatened him and his family.
Majhi claimed that even after filing a complaint with police, the accused came to his house with sharp weapons, threatened them and obstructed his children from going to school. He also alleged they were threatened to leave the country for India.
In the written statement, he said that around 9pm on February 16, the accused intercepted him while he was returning home by motorcycle, assaulted him and tried to kill him with local weapons. He and his brother were seriously injured and are now undergoing treatment at Patuakhali Sadar Hospital.
He further alleged that the attackers snatched Tk 2.2 lakh in cash and two gold chains from him during the incident. He named Zakir Bhuiya, Suman Payda and Nasir Akon as accused and claimed that 7–8 unidentified persons were also involved.
“We have been harassed in various ways for being a minority. We feel insecure and want quick adminis-trative intervention and punishment of the culprits,” Majhi said.
Responding to the allegations, Zakir Bhuiya said his son-in-law Suman bought the land about five years ago and built a house there. He also claimed the matter had earlier been settled through local arbitration and denied giving any threat to force them to go to India.
Officer-in-Charge of Patuakhali Sadar Police Station, Moniruzzaman, said police were aware of the clash and one person had previously been arrested. However, he added that no complaint had been re-ceived regarding threats to leave for India. Legal action will be taken if complaints are filed, he said.
