School land under illegal occupation

An influential local is building a concrete structure, grabbing a portion of land owned by Chhonka High School at Sherpur upazila in Bogura district.

Allegations have been brought against Ferdous Zaman Mukul, Juba League general secretary of Bhabanipur union and the school management committee president.

Local sources said Mukul is building a concrete house in the pretext of recovering the school land. He has also occupied positions of several shops at the school market.

The school was established in 1952 on a 17-bigha plot in Chhonka-Chandipur area of ​​Bhabanipur union of the upazila adjacent to Dhaka-Bogura Highway. Apart from the educational institution, there is a mosque, a makeshift bazar and a market.

The shops are rented on a monthly basis. Besides, some vacant lands were leased out to the locals. This has been going on for around 15 years.

Recently, Mukul has evicted some leaseholders and occupied the positions himself. Sources claimed that headmaster Abdur Rashid colluded with him in all these illegal activities.

On Wednesday, workers were seen constructing a new house on a 4.5 decimal land on the north-west side adjacent to the school.

When asked, Shafiqul Islam, one of the workers, said the house was being built by Mukul, the chairman of the school management committee.

“We started the construction work of the house under his direction five days ago. It will take a few more days to complete the work,” he added.

Locals, Ahsan Habib and Bhola Sarkar climed that they were the leaseholders of the plot where Mukul was constructing the house. They have running business on the land taking lease from the school authorities for the last 15 years. But without any reason, the president suddenly occupied the place forcibly.

They further said Anjuman Begum and several other men and women were evicted from the positions of the market on the school complex allotted to them by the president himself.

“No one has the courage to protest against his illegal occupation as he is the man of the ruling party. Everyone like us is helpless. We are seeking the intervention of the concerned administration of the government,“ Habib said.

However, Mukul rejected the allegations and said that everything he was doing was in the interest of the school.

“We are trying to recover the grabbed school properties. My political opponents are running propaganda against me,” he added.

Abdur Rashid, the headmaster of the school, said the shop owners were not paying regular rent.

Therefore, the president has adopted a strategy to recover the land. If someone feels that she or he was being evicted, then they can talk to the school management committee, he added.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Moinul Islam said there is no scope to build a house occupying the school land.

“I have been informed about the development and will take necessary steps soon,“ he added.