A mobile court operation targeting illegal sand extraction on the Meghna River in Ashuganj came under attack on Tuesday morning. Authorities seized five dredgers and five bulkheads, while two individuals were sentenced to one year in prison for illegally extracting sand.
The drive was led by Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Rafe Mohammad Shara in the Char Sonarampur area, near the national power grid line over the Meghna River.
According to court and eyewitness sources, an influential group from the Bhairab upazila had been extracting sand illegally using multiple dredgers and bulkheads. When questioned, the sand extractors claimed to be working for the leaseholder of the Bhairab sand field. However, as they had no legal permission to extract sand in Ashuganj, the mobile court verified the coordinates via Google Maps and seized five dredgers and five bulkheads.
Following legal proceedings, the court sentenced Amzad Hossain and Mohammad Ali to one year of imprisonment each under Sand Quarry and Soil Management Act, 2010.
In a serious turn of events, the mobile court was attacked shortly after the equipment was seized. According to UNO Rafe Mohammad Shara, a group of 7 to 8 individuals, led by Md Tarek Mia, a representative of the Bhairab sand leaseholder, arrived on a speedboat and boarded one of the seized dredgers in an attempt to reclaim it by force.
During the incident, Md Raju Mia allegedly threatened to kill the executive magistrate, assaulted the mobile court team, and physically harassed the UNO’s driver. The attackers forcibly took control of the dredger named Mariam and escaped with two confiscated bags.
In response, a case was filed with Ashuganj Police Station by the UNO’s driver, Md Jibon Mia, naming Tarek Mia as the prime accused, along with six others for obstructing government work, assaulting officials, and forcibly recovering seized property.
UNO Rafe Mohammad Shara confirmed that police and Ansar personnel were deployed to guard each of the seized vessels.
