Case filed against 40 for looting stones

S A Shofiee, Sylhet :

Companiganj’s Shah Arefin Hill, known as the ‘stone mine’ of Sylhet, has become a dead body of water due to the rampage of ‘stone miners’. There is almost nothing left of the original hill here, and the houses near the hole are under threat.
Taking advantage of the political change, stone miners have devoured this ‘stone mine’. Political figures and influential people have jointly looted stones worth hundreds of crores of taka from this hill.
Despite repeated media reports on this matter, stone looting has not stopped. After the looting turned into skeletons, the Department of Environment finally woke up. The Department of Environment has filed a case against 40 people for looting stones by cutting down the hill.
The case was filed by Assistant Director of the Department of Environment, Sylhet District Office, Md. Badrul Huda, as the plaintiff, in the Special Magistrate’s Court (Environment) of the Senior Judicial Magistrate’s Court-2 of Sylhet on Sunday afternoon.
Mohammad Ali Jinnah (45), known as a BNP politician, son of Ziyad Ali of Kanthalbari village of Companiganj upazila, was made the main accused in the case.The other accused in the case are – Monir Mia (45) of Jaliarpar area, Abdul Karim (50) of the same area, Abdur Rashid (55), Ayub Ali (55) of Chikachahar (Narainpur), Anju Mia (50) of the same area, Sohrab Ali (39), Tayyab Ali (45), Batullah Mia (40), Abdul Hannan (40), Anwar Ali (55), Anfor Ali (55), Garib Ullah (58), Md. Ibrahim (40), Abdun Noor (45), Md. Ismail (38), Ali Hossain (35), Abul Hossain (30), Faizur Rahman (38), Rafiq Mia (35), Babul Mia (40), Bashar Mia (50), Faruk Mia (40), Kala Mia (38), Elaich Mia (36), Russell Mia (32) of Babulnagar, Liton Mia (37) of Chikadhar (Narainpur), Sohel Mia (33) of Ujan Para of Parua, Kayamat Ali (38), Hasnu Chowdhury (55) of Parua Majhpara, Abdur Rahim (38) of Chikadhar, Akaddus Ali (45), Azir Uddin (55), Abdur Rahim (35) of Narainpur, Hason Mia (42), Shahin Mia (32) of Chikadhar, Ali Hossain (45) of Parua Majhpara, Sebul Ahmed (36) of Jaliar Para, Hoshiar Ali (42) and Faizur Rahman (37).
The witnesses in the case are Inspector of the Department of Environment Md. Mamunur Rashid, Assistant Police Inspector (retd) of Companiganj Police Station Tanmoy Kanti Das and Chairman of Companiganj Islampur West Union Parishad Ziyad Ali and five others.
According to sources from the Department of Environment, some people were damaging the environment and ecosystem by inducing local workers to extract stones at a very risky rate from the shrine, graveyard and government Khas Khatian land in the Shah Arefin Tila area of Chikadhar Mouza in Companiganj. A case has been filed against 40 people for violating Section 6 (b) of the Bangladesh Environment Protection Act, 1995 (amended 2010).
Most of the accused are known locally as activists and supporters of BNP and Awami League.
The case statement states that on January 23, it was found that the accused, in collusion with each other, were cutting and extracting stones from the record-breaking and visible hill land with hundreds of workers. In order to gain financial benefits, the accused, under their supervision, are engaging hundreds of workers from Jaliarpar, Chikadhar Narainpur villages adjacent to Shah Arefin Hill and are extracting stones from the hill at great risk.
It is said that about 700 years ago, Shah Arefin, one of the companions of 360 Auliya, who accompanied Hazrat Shahjalal (RA), came to the Khasia Pahar area and rested on the top of this hill. Only that resting place has survived on the 137.5-acre hill. More than fifty people have lost their lives in accidents while extracting stones on this hill alone.