A six-member committee formed by the Ministry of Shipping has begun investigating allegations that hills were cut to collect soil for land filling at Ramgarh Land Port in Khagrachhari on Saturday.

The committee conducted an on-site inspection of several areas where soil had reportedly been removed from hills, as well as the filled sections of the land port.

The investigation follows a report published in a national newspaper on Jan 7, 2026, titled “Hills cut for port construction for India”.

In response, the Ministry of Shipping formed the six-member committee on Jan 8 under the leadership of Md. Firoz Ahmed, Joint Secretary (Implementation), giving it a three-day deadline to submit its findings.

On Saturday, the committee visited various sites in the upazila, including Baidhyatil, speaking with local residents and collecting photographs, data, and soil samples. They later inspected the land port itself, gathering samples of the soil used for filling and assessing the quality of construction work.

Committee members present included Secretary Rasna Sharmin Mithu, the Ramgarh Upazila Executive Officer Kazi Shamim, a representative from BGB, and officials from the contractor company Monico Ltd.

Earlier on Friday, a high-level team led by the Secretary of the Ministry of Shipping also visited Ramgarh to examine the allegations.

The committee has not provided any public briefing or comments to journalists regarding their investigation, as of Saturday.