Attack on CPA Eviction Team
Nine arrested
Staff Correspondent, Ctg
Nine people were arrested in connection with the attack on an eviction team of Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) and damaging government properties and vehicles at Laldiarchar under Patenga Police Station in the city on Tuesday. They are Syed Hossain, Hemayet Uddin, Ali Hossain, Md Saber, Md Raju, Abu Shama, Jahid, Ali Osman and Shafiul Alam. Police arrested the nine the same night after raiding different places, and they were sent to the court yesterday afternoon for further legal proceedings. A few hundred illegal occupants at Laldiarchar made the violent attack on the eviction squad leaving at least 20 people including three security personnel injured. Some 15 vehicles including that of CPA Magistrate Munir Chowdhury who led the team, were damaged. The attackers also set fire to a CPA bulldozer. Some 22.75 acres of CPA land worth around Tk 50 to 60 crore and few other important installations were recovered from illegal encroachers during the daylong drive. About 200 families were evicted amid violent resistance and sporadic clashes in the area adjoining Shah Amanat International Airport. "The drive was aimed at recovering some 86 acres of land under illegal occupation for about 45 years," said Munir Chowdhury. Port sources said illegal occupants are being patronised by some influential quarters with political leverage from ruling BNP and main opposition Awami League. Later in the evening, CPA and Patenga police filed two separate cases against three to four hundred people including the nine arrested.
| 
