HABIGANJ — Local BNP leaders in Chunarughat upazila are accused of beating a forest officer to halt an auction of seized timber and wood from poaching. The forest officer filed a case Wednesday at Chunarughat police station.
The case names Md. Jahangir Alam Khan, 45, convener of the Chunarughat upazila Shramik Dal, and Md. Saiful Islam, a member of the Ahmedabad union BNP. Saiful is the younger brother of Shammi Akhter, a former Habiganj member of parliament and BNP central committee deputy secretary for local government affairs.
Asked about the allegation, Shammi Akhter said: “The incident was caused by the brother of a former mayor of Chunarughat municipality. The forest officer took no action against him and instead implicated my brother in the case.”
The case statement says that, under ministry directions, an auction of 29 lots of seized timber and wood from the Shayestaganj, Kalenga and Raghunandan forest ranges began Tuesday at 10 a.m. on the grounds of the assistant forest conservator’s office in Chunarughat. Shramik Dal leader Md. Jahangir Alam Khan and BNP leader Md. Saiful Islam, with several others, arrived at the scene. They told the deputy ranger conducting the auction, Sayed Ashik Ahmed, to stop and follow their instructions. An argument with the forest officer followed. At one point, Saiful and Jahangir began beating Sayed Ashik. They told the forest officer: “Who are you to call this auction? I’ll kick your teeth in.” Other forest officials present rushed to rescue Sayed Ashik and took him to a hospital.
The case statement also says that during the assault, Jahangir Alam snatched 10,000 taka from the deputy ranger’s pants pocket. Before leaving the scene, the attackers threatened to shut down the auction and warned they would kill the officer if a case were filed.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report