Houses of 2 widows demolished allegedly by local land grabbers in Munshiganj

The houses of two widows, who were settled on government khas land in Dwipara village of Munshiganj’s Tongibari upazila, were demolished allegedly by local land grabbers.

At midnight on Sunday (30 June), Sufia Begum’s house was demolished. During the incident, the attackers allegedly looted Tk60,000 and 10 sharees Sufia received as zakat. 

Earlier on 25 June, the same land grabbers demolished the house of another widow, Nurjahan, in broad daylight.

In 2001, the government leased a vast area of land north of the Dwipara Primary School to some landless families. Since then, at least 20 to 25 families have settled there under this arrangement. Among them, Sufia Begum and Nurjahan lived in two houses on the officially allotted land.

Recently, a man named Mizan claimed ownership of the land. 

According to locals, Mizan sold the land of the two widows to Siraj Khan, a local influential person, for Tk1.5 lakh, falsely claiming to have originally taken lease of the government land himself. Siraj Khan then sold the land to Ujjal from Dwipara village for Tk3 lakh. Subsequently, Ujjal and Siraj Khan, along with hired miscreants, demolished the houses of the two widows.

“I am a widow, and my sons do not care for me. The government gave me some land, and for 23 years, I have been living there. Yesterday, heavy rain flooded my house. Unable to stay there, I went to my relative’s house. When I returned this morning, I found my house was demolished,” Sufia Begum said.

Another victim Nurjahan said Ujjal and his men forcefully razed her house and built their own.

Local UP member Monir Hossain Sheikh said, “The government allocated land to several landless families in my area, including Sufia and Nurjahan. But, Siraj Khan and Ujjal have illegally occupied the widows’ houses. These widows have nowhere else to go.”

Regarding the matter, suspect Ujjal said, “The government leased the land to Mizan, who intended to sell it to me. Initially, I agreed to buy it, but later I decided against it.”

The other suspect, Siraj Khan, stated that the land belongs to Mizan, who attempted to occupy it. 

He denied any involvement in the occupation. He also refuted the claim that the land was bought and sold to Ujjal as part of Mizan’s dealings.

In this regard, Tongibari Police Station OC Molla Soeb Ali said both women have lodged complaints about the demolition of their houses at the police station. 

He mentioned that legal action will be taken following an investigation.