More than 2.15 lakh cubic feet of sand has mysteriously disappeared from a huge pile of sand seized by the government on the banks of the Feni River. This information has emerged from a re-measurement ordered by the court. The estimated market value of the missing sand is 67 lakh 14 thousand 900 taka. On the other hand, there has been a dispute between several BNP groups for several months over the control of the sand seized by the government and the sharing of the money from its sale. This has led to multiple clashes, attacks, and shooting incidents.
Last night, on July 26, two trucks loaded with sand were seized from Chagalnaiya Zero Point while they were stealing seized sand and two drivers were arrested. Three truck drivers have been arrested in separate cases in this incident and sent to jail through the court.
According to the case filed by SI Pankaj Das regarding the theft of sand, the Upazila Engineer was given the responsibility of determining the exact quantity of sand seized by the government in Joypur area of ​​Shuvopur union of Chhagalnaiya upazila on the Feni river on the orders of the court. On February 18, Upazila Engineer Touhidul Islam reached the spot and measured 170 piles of sand and submitted a report. In the report, he submitted a report stating that 38 lakh 98 thousand 697 cubic feet of sand was found.
But after that report, when the on-site measurement was re-conducted on the court’s orders, a major discrepancy was found between the previous report and the actual situation. The re-measurement showed that a total of 223,830 cubic feet of sand was missing from 170 sand piles. Assuming the price of sand per cubic foot is 30 taka, the financial loss amounted to 67,14,900 taka.
The complaint states that sometime between 8 pm on February 18 and 5:20 pm on July 20, unknown persons stole sand seized by the government. A case has been filed at Chhagalnaiya Police Station under Sections 379/34 of the Penal Code in this incident.
Meanwhile, Chhagalnaiya police recently seized three trucks loaded with sand stolen from the Shubhpur Ghat area.
Police said that during interrogation, the arrested drivers did not provide any information about who the real owner of the sand was or where the sand was being taken.
Recently, allegations were raised against Ghopal Union BNP leader Alamgir Siddiqui and his supporters for attacking upazila BNP leader Riaz Uddin Majumder (Tipu).
The injured Riaz Uddin Majumder alleged that he owed 14 to 15 lakh taka to Alamgir Siddiqui for the sand business. There had been a long-standing dispute over that money. Last Friday around 1 am, two men named Joynal and Ismail called him to the court grounds in the guise of a goat, promising a compromise.
He claimed that after reaching there, Alamgir Siddiqui came with four to five accomplices in a car and started firing at them. A bullet splinter pierced his leg. Later, he was hit in the head with a shotgun. When the attackers fled the scene, locals rescued him and admitted him to the hospital.
His drivers Adnan, Humayun, Sohel and Emon were injured while trying to rescue him.
In this incident, Riaz Uddin Majumder filed a written complaint with the Chhagalnaiya Police Station, naming 14 people and naming 20 to 30 more as unknown accused.
SI Tanvir Mehedi, the investigation officer in the case of the truck being seized with stolen sand, said, “In the initial investigation, information has been found that more than 200,000 cubic feet of sand was stolen. However, the investigation is ongoing. The actual amount and who is involved can be confirmed after the investigation.”
However, locals complain that although large trucks and pickup trucks have been filling up the seized sand day and night for a long time and have been moving it to various locations, no effective action has been taken by the concerned authorities.
In this regard, Chhagalnaiya Upazila Assistant Commissioner (Land) Omar Faruk said, “A case has been filed regarding the theft of government sand. The matter is now under police investigation. As the investigation is ongoing, it would not be appropriate to comment on the matter at this time.”
How the huge amount of sand seized by the government was looted day after day, who is involved in it, who sold the sand and whether any influential group is behind it – these are the questions that are now on the lips of the locals. They claim that only arresting the truck drivers will not catch the real criminals. The main masterminds involved in the entire incident, the people behind the money transactions and the looting of government assets should be identified and brought to justice. They also demand an impartial investigation into the attacks and shootings and strict action taken against the culprits.
