The Forest Department met resistance from local people when it went to plant saplings in the national park at Kaptai, Rangamati. The two sides clashed, and seven people on both sides were injured.

The clash broke out at 10am on Thursday, 7 November, while saplings were being planted on an abandoned open plot in the Byangchhari area of the national park.

According to sources, when Forest Department staff went to plant saplings, local resident Nurul Amin and members of his family claimed the plot as their own and obstructed them, pulling up the saplings the department had planted. As the saplings were uprooted, the two sides chased each other, and the Forest Department fired one blank round in self-defence. In the hour-long chase and counter-chase, Forest Department office assistant Osman Goni and gardener Lutfar Rahman were injured. The army and police arrived after being informed by the Forest Department and brought the situation under control.

Nurul Amin claimed that he and his family members Sufia Begum, Surma Begum, Rina Parvin and a teenage girl were injured. Kaptai range officer ASM Mohiuddin said both sides have been asked to bring their documents to the Kaptai 56 East Bengal office at 10am on Sunday, 10 November, to settle the matter.

Nurul Amin, who claims the land, said: "We have lived on this land for 40 years. The deputy commissioner recently gave the view that the land is ours. We have the papers."

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