There has been an allegation of an attempt to forcibly seize a residential property by violating the Shalish meeting in the Purba Badurgachha area of Sharikkhali Union in Taltoli Upazila of Barguna. The victim, Jalal Hawlader, has alleged that his opponents, Nazir Khan and Delwar Khan, along with some others, broke the local Shalish and tried to seize his long-held land.

The incident took place at around 5 pm on Wednesday (July 1). The victim, Jalal Hawlader (62), has filed a written complaint with the Taltoli Police Station in this regard.

Statement of the victim’s family

In the complaint, Jalal Hawlader mentioned that he and his family have been living on the land for about 20 years by building a house on that land. But the owners of the neighboring land, Nazir Khan (50) and Delwar Khan (52), had been threatening them in various ways for a long time to give up their land.

Jalal Hawladar told reporters, “I have been living on this land with my family for 20 years. I had called for arbitration locally due to a boundary dispute. Although the opponents initially accepted the arbitration, they came on the scheduled day and canceled the meeting and wanted to forcibly occupy the land. I want fair justice from the government so that I do not lose to the terrorists.”

His son also expressed his anger and said, “I have grown up in this house since childhood. Despite all our documents being in order, Nazir and Delwar Khans want to demolish our house by force. We want justice after a fair investigation.”

Statements from local residents and opponents

Local residents said that on the day of the incident, an arbitration meeting was supposed to be held in the presence of both parties. But the accused broke up the meeting and at one stage, taking advantage of the absence of men in the house, forcibly dug up pillars and tried to seize the land. The complaint also mentions that they threatened and intimidated Jalal Howlader during this time.

When asked about this, accused Delwar Khan claimed, “We will get a place inside Jalal Howlader’s house. They built a house in our place. So we called the government amin and fixed the boundary. We will resolve it later.”

Administration’s assurance

Meanwhile, there has been intense tension between the two parties in the area since the incident. Locals fear a major clash at any time. Locals have demanded immediate intervention by the administration to bring the situation under control.

The Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Taltoli Police Station said that a written complaint has been received. The matter will be investigated and legal action will be taken soon.