Bangladesh gets back 75 bigha lands from India

Dhaka, July 6, 2013 (New Age): Bangladesh has got back 75 bighas of land in Benipur frontier at Jibannagar upazila in Chuadanga that was occupied by India 67 years ago. The Border Guard Bangladesh took possession of the land from Indian Border Security Force on May 4 following a series of negotiations and handed over the possession of the land to Chuadanga district administration on Saturday. The Border Guard Battalion 6 director, Lieutenant Colonel SM Moniruzzaman, told New Age that the land was occupied by Indian in 1947. He said, ‘Indians had been cultivating the lands since 1947. The Indians, however, stopped to cultivate the lands in 2005, as the Bangladesh border force barred them from cultivating the lands claiming Bangladesh’s ownership of the lands showing valid documents.’ Moniruzzaman said that the border guards had several meetings with Indian land officials and border forces and finally the BSF handed over the possession of the land to the border guards on May 4 as they failed to show any document on their claim of ownership. ‘Earlier, the border guards tried to take possession of the lands thrice when Border Security Force of India had foiled the attempts,’ he said. The additional deputy commissioner (revenue) in Chuadanga, Abu Sayed, who take possession of the land from the border guards on Saturday, told New Age that the Border Guard Bangladesh officials wanted to build its camp on the lands and told him that they would apply to the authority concerned seeking allocation of the lands.