City dwellers have been surprised over the past few years to see the brazen defiance of law and disregard for the country's interest in the activities of these political big shots and businessmen.

The political figures include former commerce minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, former food minister and BNP Joint Secretary General Abdullah-Al Noman, Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) Mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, and former civil aviation minister Mir Mohammad Nasiruddin. Business organisations like S Alam Group and Abul Khair Group are also involved in hill cutting.

These people gobbled up hills at Khulshi, Nasirabad, Lalkhan Bazar, Bayezid Bostami, Sholoshahar, Sitakunda, Bhatiari, Hathazari and other places in the district over the last three decades using names of their relatives, friends, institutions, or in the name of other purposes.

Environmentalists believe that such destruction of hills--both complete and partial--is the main reason for massive landslides during torrential rain just like the latest tragedy on June 11 that claimed over 120 lives.

It was learnt that Ibrahim Cotton Mill, owned by former Chittagong municipality (now city corporation) chairman late Sekander Hossain Miah, took lease of a vast hilly area at Nachnikhola on Hathazari-Bhatiari Link Road near the Golf Club under Hathazari upazila many years ago in the name of horticulture.

But the farm was never established, and instead the mill management further leased out the property to some influential people who soon razed the entire hill and built 12 brick kilns.

AMIR KHASRU AND HIS FAMILY
Locals and other sources pointed at some family members of influential BNP leader Amir Khasru to be involved in hill cutting. There are allegations that Khasru and his family members own several hills in the city's posh Khulshi residential area, Sitakunda and elsewhere.

DoE sources confirmed that Khasru took lease of vast hilly land in Sitakunda-Bhatiari area using the name of his mother Meher Banu without obtaining any "no objection certificate" from the DoE.

A gang of criminals allegedly looks after another hill owned by Khasru in southern Khulshi area and the hill was razed during the rule of the immediate past BNP-led alliance government for commercial purpose, they said.

Amir Khasru could not be contacted for comments despite repeated efforts.

His brother Amir Humayun Mahmud Chowdhury, however, claimed to The Daily Star that his father had a piece of hilly land in Jangal Salimpur area under Sitakunda upazila which the government later took over as khas land. There is a pending case involving that land.

Humayun, former president of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry and chairman of lease financing firm Union Capital Ltd, said they have not visited the place for many years. One Kashem meantime built a brick kiln there namely Meher Bricks Industries, which reminds one of the name of Humayun's mother.

The influential family also allegedly razed a hill measuring around four acres near the Foy's Lake at North Pahartali adjacent to the CCC-run Lake City Housing Society.

Sources yesterday said the power of attorney of the land was recently given to one Abdul Jalil and Co. The Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) on January 31 this year filed another case against the family with Khulshi PS.

The family of Humayun also owned a 30-acre piece of hilly land near the Foy's Lake where the CCC built up its largest plot business. They first sold the property to Purabi Housing Society, which later sold it to the CCC.

CCC MAYOR
DoE officials also named Chittagong Mayor and city Awami League (AL) President ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury as one of the big plunderers of hills in recent years. He razed several hills at south Khulshi for the city corporation's Hill View Project, in Foy's Lake area for the Lake View Project and at Sitakunda to sell plots and apartments.

Pahartali police arrested two CCC-appointed workers and one staff during a raid last month following a case filed by the DoE against the authority of the CCC-run Lake City Housing Society for hill cutting. The police are preparing to submit the charge sheet against the three soon.

The Chittagong mayor is in jail now.

MIR NASIR
Former civil aviation minister Mir Nasir also owns 30 kathas of land worth Tk 50 crore, which was originally a hill, in Jalalabad area under the Khulshi PS.

There are allegations against Nasir, who is in jail now, that he used political power during the rule of the BNP-led government to save those involved in hill cutting.

Mosharraf Hossain Dipti, former president of Chittagong city Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal and loyal to Nasir, encroached on a hilly plot measuring 100 katha at Akbar Shah Colony near the Foy's Lake. Dipti, who is now in Dubai, built some tin-shed houses and rented those.

Jatiya Party (Ershad) City Convener Solaiman Sheth, who emerged as a political character recently and is now in jail, is widely known for land grabbing. He also has a track record in other criminal activities and maintained a criminal gang to help materialise his ill plans, sources said.

Sheth is an accused in many criminal cases, including murder, hill cutting and land grabbing. He was sent to jail on May 30 by a court after he surrendered to it in a murder case.

Sources alleged that two-time minister Abdullah-Al Noman also owns a vast hilly area at south Khulshi and he too levelled the hills to construct apartments and sell plots.

Chittagong north district AL President and another former civil aviation minister Mosharraf Hossain also exercised his power and influence to grab hills to build commercial plots in the city's Polytechnic and Chandranagar areas in Nasirabad when AL was in power from 1996 to 2001.

ABUL KHAIR GROUP
The Abul Khair Group has also gobbled up hills in Hathazari area and built a brickfield there. The DoE served a notice on the group and later closed the brickfield in 2003.

No responsible person of the Abul Khair Group was available for comments.

S ALAM GROUP
The S Alam Group allegedly bought 156 acres of hilly land near the cantonment from Baitush Sharaf Foundation Ltd, which initially took lease of the land. The S Alam Group has been cutting the hills for "development work" for the last six months.

Abdus Samad Labu, vice-chairman of S Alam Group, however said they have only made a preliminary agreement with the Baitush Sharaf in-charge to buy the land.

He said the group does not have any real estate or brick kiln business, so the allegation of hill cutting is totally baseless. "Local land grabbers might be cutting the hill but nobody from our company or family," he said.

Another syndicate of four businessmen razed almost half of a large hill behind the Chittagong Press Club in Jamal Khan area under Kotwali PS recently. Two of them have been identified as Sarwar Alam and M Muniruzzaman.

DoE sources said the department lodged a case in this regard and the main culprit has been absconding abroad.

A CDA mobile court in a drive yesterday afternoon stopped the construction work of an apartment on the land and lodged a case against Sarwar and Muniruzzaman under the Building Construction Act 1952 with the Kotwali PS.

The DoE also stopped the razing of hills in Forest Research Institute area in Sholoshahar and Sitakunda by some "influential" quarters. It also filed separate cases.

Sources said an association of some Bangladesh Bank staffs took lease of a hill at Chakresho Kanan in Bayezid Bostami area to develop housing plots there.

BRICK KILN OWNERS' SYNDICATE
A syndicate of around 100 brick kiln owners razed vast hills in Hathazari area and built brickfields. When the DoE filed a case to stop the destruction of the hills, the group appealed against it in the High Court.

The court issued a stay order on any activity on the land, but sources said the syndicate secretly continued their operation until recently.

Vast hills in and around Lebu Bagan near the cantonment were reportedly leased out to some persons. A signboard posted at the place bears names of three people--Mannan Chowdhury, Osman Gani and Mahtab Chowdhury--declaring them as the owners of six acres of land at the place.

But DoE Director Mosharraf said the three men could not be traced.

Over 70 people were buried alive in the devastating landslide on June 11 here.

DoE
When contacted, DoE Chittagong Region Director Mosharraf Hossain cited shortage of manpower and lack of tough laws as the major barriers to taking action against such rampant plundering of hills.

"We have only one inspector against three posts. The inspector too was recently transferred and now junior chemist M Saiful is discharging additional duty as an inspector to cover 11 districts from Teknaf to Brahmanbaria under the Chittagong DoE," the DoE director said.

WEAK LAWS
The Environment Act has provisions for monetary penalty ranging from Tk 5,000 to Tk 50,000. There is also a provision for maximum penalty of Tk 10 lakh but it has never been applied against any one yet.

"None of the plunderers of hills could be placed behind bars either," said a DoE official.

The DoE has filed a total of 32 cases of which only 12 have so far been disposed.