Government road cut into cultivation land in the dark of night

A complaint has been filed against influential Md. Babul Dafadar for cutting a government road into cultivation land in the dark of night in Taltoli, Barguna. At 10 am today, Wednesday (July 1), locals organized a human chain in the Mourvi area of ​​Nishanbaria Union of the upazila to protest this incident and demand immediate repair of the road.
Earlier, despite multiple written complaints to the Upazila Executive Officer (UNO) and the police station, no redress was received. Accused Md. Babul Dafadar is the son of Taibur Rahman Dafadar, who was killed in the same area.
After investigation, it was learned that for two decades, students of Mourvi Government Primary School, Moapara Government Primary School and Sobhanpara Dakhil Madrasa, worshippers of the local Jama Masjid and the general public have been traveling on the Moapara-Mourvi road in Nishanbaria Union of the upazila. Considering the public importance of the road, the government renovated the road with soil in the fiscal year 2024-25 under the Rural Infrastructure Maintenance Project under the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief.
It has been alleged that over the past few days, under the leadership of Babul Dafadar, about 400 feet of the government road has been cut off in the dark of night and converted into farmland. Thousands of people in the area have been suffering immensely due to this. Now their travel has almost stopped due to the cutting of the road. They have demanded that the road be repaired immediately and legal action be taken against the accused.
Local residents Humaira Begum, Asma Begum, Maulana Imadul Haque and Mujibar said that thousands of people in our two villages are now suffering immensely due to the cutting of the connecting road between Mourvi and Moapara villages. Especially school and madrasa students travel on this road. Now their education is about to be completely stopped due to the cutting of the road. We are demanding that the road be repaired immediately and legal action be taken against the accused.
When contacted on mobile, accused Babul Dafadar refused to comment. Nishanbaria Union Parishad Chairman Dr. Kamruzzaman Bachchu Mia said that the government allocation for the road was given through UP member Shafiq Jamaddar. The issue of cutting the road will be investigated and necessary action will be taken. Taltoli Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Mohammad Zahidul Islam said, we have received a written complaint in this regard and have directed the UP Chairman to investigate the matter. If the investigation shows that the road was built with the Union Parishad’s funding, the UP member working as CBC has been asked to file a case.