Labour Party Leader Accused of Clearing Government Trees Along 4-Kilometre Stretch in the Name of Road Development; Student Leader Exposes Alleged Felling

❐ District Representative

Serious allegations have been made about the cutting of hundreds of trees on government land on both sides of the approximately four-kilometer stretch of the Sanuhar-Dhamura road in Ujirpur, Barisal.

Locals said that the people under the leadership of Upazila Sramik Dal President Zia Amin Radhi cut down and embezzled these trees. A written complaint was filed with Ujirpur Police Station on Tuesday in this incident, but no specific names were mentioned.

According to local sources, the development work of the Sanuhar-Dhamura road is ongoing. Upazila Engineer Subrata Roy returned to the office after inspecting the work at around 4 pm on November 2. The next day, Tuesday, around 10 am, he went to inspect the work again and found three to four trees cut down in the middle of the road.

Later, locals witnessed the horrific scene of indiscriminate cutting of trees along the entire four-kilometer stretch of the Sanuhar-Dhamura road.

According to locals, a few days ago, unknown people marked the government trees along the road with special marks. Since then, the cutting of trees has started. Trees are being cut down and removed indiscriminately at different times of the day and night. In the meantime, the trees on both sides of the road from Sanuhar to Kachua have been completely cleared.

Several local residents and party leaders and activists, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Upazila Sramik Dal President Zia Amin Radhi, along with his own people, cut down these trees and moved them elsewhere.

When the incident became known in the area, the former president of the Sholak Union Chhatra Dal of Uzirpur posted a post on social media, Facebook. In the post, Zia Amin Rari, the president of the Upazila Sramik Dal, and others were directly blamed for cutting down government trees.

However, he later admitted on Wednesday afternoon that he deleted the post at the request of party leaders. The Chhatra Dal leader said that even though the post was deleted, the fact of cutting down trees remains.

Although the personal mobile number of accused labor leader Zia Amin Radhi was called several times to inquire about the allegations, he did not answer the call. As a result, it was not possible to get his statement on the matter.

Uzirpur Upazila Forest Officer Mohammad Moniruzzaman said it is not yet confirmed whether the trees are under social forestry. Some say that a former member of parliament along with local people planted them a few years ago. However, since they are roadside trees, they can be considered government property and the matter has been reported to higher authorities.

Upazila Engineer Subrata Roy said, “Although the road belongs to LGED, it is not certain who planted the trees. However, a complaint has been filed with the police station against unknown persons as these trees, which grew on government land, were stolen.”

Uzirpur Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Ali Shuja said that the matter is being investigated seriously and strict instructions have been given to the police station to verify the truth and take legal action against the accused persons involved.