There have been allegations of trying to occupy the disputed land by cutting down trees and building houses there in defiance of the court’s ban under Dhunot upazila in Bogura. The incident took place in Pirhati village of the upazila. A written complaint has been lodged at the police station.

According to the complaint, Abdur Rahman of Pirhati village has a dispute with his sister Alufa Khatun over the ownership of the ancestral 17th century land. Alufa Khatun has been living on the disputed land for about 15 years, building a wooden garden and a house.

In this situation Abdur Rahman sold 12 percent of the land from that part to Shah Jamal of the same area. As a result, Alufa Khatun filed a preemption case against Shah Jamal in 2009 to get back the land sold by her brother. After hearing the case, the court issued a status on the land in 2010.

In this situation, Shah Jamal and his men cut down 17 eucalyptus trees worth more than two lakh rupees from the vacant land on Friday and built a house there. Alufa Khatun’s husband Sirajul Islam has lodged a written complaint with the police.

Claiming ownership of the land, Shah Jamal said, “I bought the land with trees from Alufa Khatun’s brother.” So I cut down the trees and sold them and built a house there. The case pending in the court regarding that land will be dealt with legally.

Alufa Khatun’s husband Sirajul Islam said that Shah Jamal had cut down the trees and sold them with the help of hired people. They cut down the trees even after a complaint was lodged with the police. They threatened to beat me if I interfered.

Sub-Inspector (SI) of Dhunat Police Station Pradeep Kumar Barman said the trees were cut down from the disputed land before going to the spot after receiving the complaint. Later, the cut part of the tree was confiscated and handed over to the local UP chairman. The legal process is ongoing in this regard.