Gazirvita union of Haluaghat, Mymensingh was the scene of a land extortion incident today, whereby a man resorted to to coercing his late brother’s family into handing over a few pieces of land they own withinMymensingh.
Mr Abdul Hamid and Abdul Jalil, both threatened their late brother, Mr Abdur Rashid Sarker’s family, into giving up certain areas of land they own in Gazirvita Union under Haluaghat upozilla and in Haluaghat Town respectively.
The late Mr Abdur Rashid Sarker’s family currently consists of his wife Mrs Sabina Sultana his two sons Mr Muhammad Shajibul Sarker and Mr Samiul Alom. Mr Muhammad Sarker actually lives abroad in United Kingdom at the moment, our correspondent reports.
Speaking of our correspondent, he was at the scene of the incident and managed to speak to some of the locals there. According to them, Mr Abdul Hamid and Abdul Jalil are attempting to seize the aforementioned properties from their late brother’s family, who are rightful owners of the land of course.
However, Mr Hamid and Jalil utilised asset they had on hand in order to pressurize and coerce their brother’s family into giving in. This included employing the services of Haluaghat thana’s local MP one MrJuwelAreng. Mr Areng incidentally is an active Awami League member, the ruling party in Bangladesh of course.
Alongside that Mr Hamid and Mr Jalil also convinced the late Mr Abdur Rashid Sarker’s Biological Brothers , messrs Mr Babul Hossain and Mr Liakat Ali, to join them in their cause. Another one of Mr Muhammad Sarker’s cousins, aMr Deluwar Hossain also played an active role in strong-arming his late cousin’s family. Mr Deluwar Hossain currently happens to be fulfilling duties as the Gazirvita Union President.
Our correspondent was also able to uncover that the late Mr abdur Rashid Sarker’s family is currently on the run (with the exception of one of Mr Muhammad Sarker who as we mentioned above, is already living abroad in UK), having come under constant harassment and pressure at the hands of their own relatives. The locals were unable to point our correspondent towards their current whereabouts. It was not possible to obtain contact details for Mr Sarker in United Kingdom as well.
Our correspondent also uncovered that the local area police station refused to intervene in this incident, due to the number of high profile, politically influential individuals involved. It is understood that as a result when the late Mr Abdur Rashid Sarker’s, family went down there to file a complaint but were flatly refused.
Thus our correspondent made a couple of trips first to Haluaghat’s police station and the Mymensingh police station respectively, receiving mixed messages. Haluaghat police station actually refused our correspondent entry. When he insisted, our correspondent was rebuked rather rudely by the officers on duty at that time.
However Mymensingh police, although initially reluctant, did confirm via a spokesperson that they are aware of the aforementioned incident. However they insisted investigations are in their infancy and that there are “several details that need to be looked into”.
Our correspondent by the way did contact Haluaghat Union Offices in a bid to get in touch with President Deluwar Hossain. Although he was able to establish a connection, no one answered the phone.
Now extortion in any form, especially concerning land and property, are common features of Bangladesh’s physiology. While the involvement of family, relatedinternal unrest is certainly tragic, it is not unheard of. Property and wealth transference laws are vague, unpolished and poorly implemented, governed. There are several individuals such as Mr Hamid, Jalil and co who continue to capitalise on the lackadaisical way the government and the legalsystem handles property disputes. Matters of course are further compounded by corrupt officials keen on engaging in bribery, along with being afraid of those in a position of power and influence. Today it is very simple to forge documents and “steal” another person’s property right from under his/her nose, regardless of the fact that said person might have owned the property, rightfully.
Nevertheless, we will issue more future updates on the incident once there are an.
