Authorities in Tangail jailed one man and fined four others after a daylong drive against illegal soil extraction on Jamuna River chars, seizing excavators and trucks used in the trade.
A man was jailed for one year and four others were fined a total of 400,000 taka after Bangladesh authorities launched a daylong drive against illegal soil extraction from a sandbar on the Jamuna River in Tangail, officials said.
The operation was carried out from Monday afternoon until night. Eight excavators and three trucks used in the illegal earth-cutting, according to officials.
A mobile court sentenced Matin to one year in prison without hard labour on charges of obstructing the drive.
The operation was led by Bhuapur Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Mahbub Hasan, Assistant Commissioner for Land Md Rajib Hossain and Bhuapur police station officer-in-charge Md Sabbir Rahman.
According to sources, an influential organised group from Sirajganj and Bhuapur had long been cutting soil illegally from chars and riverbanks along the Jamuna and selling it.
The illegal extraction had put the Jamuna Railway Bridge, the Jamuna Bridge and the guide embankment protecting the bridge at risk, prompting the drive on the orders of higher authorities, the sources said.
During the operation, the administration found evidence supporting the allegations. It jailed one person for one year, fined four others a total of 400,000 taka and seized eight soil-cutting excavators and three trucks.
Mahbub Hasan said administrative action was continuing against those involved in sand extraction in violation of regulations and that legal steps had already been taken against those found responsible.
