A case has been filed against four officials of Kushtia Zilla Parishad and an industrialist on Sunday afternoon for occupying a piece of land demolishing two-storied market building was on the land.
The incident took place 10 June in last year.
Rokeya Khatun, Hosneara Khatun, Hussainul and Hujjatul Islam filed the case in the court of Joint District Judge’s in Kushtia.
The complainants inherits one Rakibul Islam, a resident of Harishankarpur in the town who was owner of the land.
The defendants are Kamruzzaman, managing director of a fish feed Production Company name KNB Agro Industries, and Md. Kushtia Zilla Parishad chief executive officer Moniruzzaman, Assistant Engineer Shafiqul Islam, Surveyor Moniruzzaman and administrative officer Shahinuzzaman Shahin.
According to the case, Rakibul Islam bought about a piece land in Battail Mouza area of Kushtia Municipal area in 1995 in exchange for all his resorts he earned during working in abroad. He built 22 shops on the land. Naming Pramanik Super Market, Rakibul rented the shops. The concerned were running their business quite comfortably. The market was in front of KNB Agro Industry.
The owner of the industry Kamruzzaman in various ways was offering Rakibul to sell the market to him. Getting no response, the industrialist adopted a different strategy.
Meanwhile, once suddenly, the Kushtia Zilla Parishad clumped down its ownership on the land though the previous and present owners of the land have paying all taxes and revenues since 50 years back.
At one stage, Zilla Parishad filed a case in the first court of the Kushtia Joint District Judge claiming ownership of the land.
The Zilla Parishad at the same time leases the land in favour of industrialist Kamruzzaman on June 8, 2019. Taking advantage of the lease, the industrialist with no delay, bulldozed the market on June 10, 2019. Demolishing the market, the industrialist took the over the land.
Kushtia Judge’s Court Senior Advocate Mahatab Uddin said no authority can take the law into its own hands while the case is pending in the court. The completed market has been evicted illegally.
“The Zilla Parishad could not provide any ledger number in favour of its leasing land to the industry owner and it means that the property was privately owned,” the lawyer told.
The lawyer said that where the Zilla Parishad itself filed the case as a plaintiff, it cannot claim the property on its own and lease it to anyone until an order is made in the case.
Defendant Kamruzzaman said the land was leased to him by the Zilla Parishad. If there is a case, he will deal with it legally.
Another defendant in the case, Shafiqul Islam, Assistant Engineer told that all that happened on the orders of the Chairman and the Chief Executive officer of the Parishad.
When contacted, chairman of Kushtia Zilla Parishad who is now in hideout as his name has come out in a land forgery scam told that he will not make any comment as the matter is now under court.