The forest bit office of Habirbari of Valuka range is situated inside the grabbed land, where the grabbers have started demarcation work by building walls. The forest department has for the last few years been running a social forestry programme on that piece of land in partnership with the local people.

Forest department sources said good stocks of Gazari forest exist on the grabbed land. The department filed a case against the grabbers at the Mymensingh lower court, which is now under hearing.

The grabbed land is worth not less than Tk 300 crore, a forest department source said.

"The grabbers have produced fake documents and bribed some local people, who are saying that the grabbers have purchased the land from the local people," said a top official of the forest department. "Now they have been making the wall around the forest office and their grabbed land," he added.

When an Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF), Md. Arif, tried to resist the grabbers, hired people of the grabbers beat him up. But the police have so far not taken any action. When the forest department staff went to knock down the wall with the help of local people, the police resisted them, the forest office alleged.

Even the local people also cannot protest the grabbing in fear of the hired musclemen of the grabbers, said forest officials.

Obaidul Karim, the owner of Orion Trading House, put a signboard with the name of his wife, Zobaida Karim, over the area, claiming that they have bought the land.

Local people said 300 hired people of the Orion group have been working there round the clock to complete the wall. "Last Thursday, they put up a signboard in the name of Orion Trading House and started the demarcation work," said a top official of the department of forest, requesting anonymity.

Witnesses said the workers have already made a wall 400 to 500 feet long. They have also put up pillars along the border of the grabbed land so that they can erect barbed wire.

The chief conservator of Forest (CCF) and other high officials visited the area in the morning. Forest officials alleged that some officers of the police department have been helping the grabbers.

Being informed about the land grabbing, Environment Minister Tariqul Islam talked to the cabinet and home secretaries as well as the deputy commissioner and superintendent of police of Mymensingh yesterday.

He instructed them to take all necessary legal actions to recover the forestland at any cost.

Obaidul Karim told The Daily Star last night that his company has bought 165 acres of land from the locals after verifying their legal documents. So there is no question of capturing forestland, he maintained.

He claimed the forest department has filed a case and even went to the court but could not come up with any documents to substantiate its ownership.