The Forest Department has filed a police diary against four people over alleged illegal excavation in a plantation established under a government project in 2015-16.
Around 400 mangrove trees have been uprooted to make way for a watermelon field in southern Bangladesh, prompting the Forest Department to file a general diary against four people accused of illegally clearing reserved forest land.
The incident occurred on Saturday at the South Char Biswas mangrove plantation in Char Biswas Union, Galachipa upazila of Patuakhali district, where an excavator was allegedly used to build an embankment for watermelon cultivation.
The Forest Department said the 75-hectare plantation was established on reserved forest land during the 2015-16 fiscal year under a government plantation project.
Forest officials said four to five people, allegedly led by local resident Md Shahin Hawlader, were operating an excavator on Saturday afternoon to prepare the land for cultivation. The work uprooted around 400 keora trees, a locally known mangrove species.
Abdul Barek, an officer at Char Agasti Beat, said forest officials went to the site after receiving information about the activity and attempted to stop the work, prompting those involved to leave.
“We have been developing the mangrove plantation in this char since 2015. As part of our routine forest protection activities, we saw an excavator being used to construct an embankment inside the forest and tried to stop it,” he said.
Shahin denied the allegations, claiming the land had been allocated to landless farmers by the Galachipa Land Office in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 fiscal years. He said he had leased the land from the allottees to grow watermelons.
He also disputed the Forest Department’s account of the plantation, saying no trees had been planted there by the department and that the vegetation had grown naturally.
Nayan Mistry, a range officer with the Galachipa Forest Department, rejected Shahin’s claims, saying the land belonged to the department and had not been leased out.
Mistry said Barek had filed the general diary against Shahin and three other people.
Md Imtiaz Ahmed, officer-in-charge of Galachipa Police Station, said police were investigating the complaint and would take legal action based on their findings.
