Land allocated to the Sangbadik Samabay Samity, a cooperative society of journalists who are members of the National Press Club, was attacked again on Sunday.
Since March 13, attackers have carried out four rounds of assaults, causing extensive damage by vandalizing construction equipment and vehicles used for development work on the piece of land located in Mirpur’s Pallabi area, at Jhilpar.
On March 16, at around 11am, a group of 20–25 assailants launched an attack led by Mamun, Jamil, and Moshi from the Mamun group. In response, construction workers managed to capture two attackers and handed them over to the police. As retaliation, in the evening, a larger group of 100–150 armed men stormed the project site, vandalizing and looting construction materials, machinery, and vehicles stored in the site office.
The first attack occurred on March 13, when a group of armed criminals stormed the site. They brandished pistols, machetes, and other sharp weapons, threatening to kill workers engaged in land development.
The attackers verbally abused the laborers and warned them that any development work without their permission would lead to fatal consequences.
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Following the attack, Md. Sadekul Islam, the responsible officer of T. Mallik Properties & Enterprise Ltd., the company overseeing the land development, filed a complaint at Pallabi Police Station. Despite this, the criminals launched another attack on March 14, followed by two more assaults on March 16.
Later, an Army petrol team and a team from Pallabi Police Station came to the spot.
It is noteworthy that in 2006, under the directive of then-Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, the National Housing Authority allocated this 7-acre land in Jhilpar, Pallabi, for senior journalists’ housing under the Dhaka Journalists’ Cooperative Society. The society, comprising approximately 300 members, paid the market price, and the Housing Authority officially handed over the land.
However, in 2009, after the Awami League came to power, local MP Elias Uddin Molla illegally seized the land under the cover of darkness. Using his gang, he set up cattle farms, a bakery, semi-permanent structures, and tin-shed houses, renting them out for personal gain.
Following the fall of the autocratic regime in July, leaders like Hasina and others from the Awami League fled, including Elias Molla.
On January 21, with administrative support, the National Housing Authority evicted all illegal occupants and officially handed back the land to the journalists’ cooperative. Development work had been ongoing since then until these recent attacks began.
This latest attack on Thursday has once again raised concerns about safety and the ongoing threats from criminal groups.