A union parishad (UP) member named Abu Mia has been caught red-handed cutting down a government-owned roadside tree worth Tk 25,000 in Kamalnagar upazila of Lakshmipur. The tree was later seized and left in the custody of Yusuf Ali Mia, chairman of Char Martin Union Parishad.

Upazila forest officer Abdul Kader confirmed the matter around 11:30am on Saturday (19 March).

Abu Mia is the member for Ward 7 of Char Martin union. He had labourers cut the tree in the west bazar area of Munshirhat, on the upazila's Torabganj-Motirhat road.

According to Abdul Kader, the human development organisation Proshika planted trees along both sides of about 7 km of road, from Torabganj bazar in Torabganj union to Bolirpol in Char Martin union. When Proshika's activities stopped, the trees came under the government, although some of them belong to Proshika's local people.

"But on Friday afternoon UP member Abu Mia was taking away a government chambul tree, worth an estimated Tk 25,000. The tree was then seized and left in the custody of the local UP chairman," he said.

He added that although the trees are under the government, they do not belong directly to the Forest Department; their owner is the deputy commissioner. Without a resolution from the deputy commissioner, no case can be filed against the UP member.

Abu Mia did not answer calls to his mobile phone at noon, nor did he reply to a text message.

Char Martin UP chairman Yusuf Ali Mia said he was in Dhaka at the time. The tree was placed in his custody through the village police, and he had not learned why the member had cut it.

Kamalnagar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md Kamruzzaman said the matter would be raised at a meeting at the deputy commissioner's office on Sunday, and necessary action would be taken according to the decision of the deputy commissioner and the district forest officer.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.