900 sued over Barapukuria violence,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

Around 900 unidentified people were sued in two separate cases filed in connection with Monday’s clash between cops and land subsidence victims of Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Ltd (BCMCL).

Shambhu Dasgupta, officer-in-charge of Parbatipur Police Station, filed the first case Monday night accusing 400 unnamed people on charges of attacking police and impeding them from performing duties and damaging public properties.

Md Masudur Rahman Howladar, deputy manager (Security) of BCMCL, filed the second case with the same police station against 500 people on charges of damaging properties of the mine and obstructing miners to enter their office.

None was arrested in connection with the case at 1:00pm when the report was filed.

Md Ibrahim Khalil, convener of Jibon O Sampad Rakkha Committee, a platform for the affected people, said he knew nothing about filing of the cases.

At least 20 land subsidence victims of BCMCL and four law enforcers were injured in a clash between land subsidence victims and police at the mine site on Monday.

Land subsidence victims of 10 villages around BCMCL had staged an indefinite sit-in in front of the mine for 21 days from June 18 demanding complete disbursement of promised compensation.

The affected people have been agitating since 2009 after at least 627 acres of land subsided at 10 villages.

Later, the Executive Committee for National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved Tk 190 crore in 2010 as compensation and rehabilitation package for the victims.

However, Tk 120 crore has been distributed among the victims since September 22 last year.