Bangladesh News

Some motor workshop owners, who were recently evicted from lands owned by the railway department in Shahjahanpur in the capital, are setting up their workshops again on a large piece of land owned by the relatives of now detained former housing and public works minister Mirza Abbas.
The land was allotted to Mirza Abbas’ family for residential purposes by Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) allegedly due to the former minister’s influence on the government agency.

According to Rajuk rules, lands slated for residential use cannot be used for commercial purposes.

Moreover, in the original master plan of Rajuk the land is slated for a children’s park.

“This land belongs to a sister of Mirza Abbas. I have rented it from her,” said Abdul Haq, owner of Noyon Motors, who is known to be close to Mirza Abbas.

He refused to provide the phone number of the land owner. He even started erecting the structure of his workshop without settling the rent.

“The rent for the land is yet to be fixed. First we are going to build the workshop,” said Abdul.

Abdul and some other motor workshop owners yesterday were seen measuring the land to build their establishments there. Local residents said the relatives of Mirza Abbas are trying to keep the land in their possession by renting it out to the motor workshop owners.

The local people want the government to establish a playground or children’s park there in line with the original master plan of Rajuk.

Mirza Abbas influenced the Rajuk authorities in 1996 to allot the children’s park space to his relatives for residential purposes, which was divided into plots and allotted to his brothers, sisters and other relatives as persons who had been affected by a different government development project somewhere else in the city earlier.

On March 23, 1996 the land allocation committee of Rajuk allotted the plots to Abbas’ siblings including Renu Mirza, Israt Mirza,

Shahida Mirza, Rashida Mirza, Mirza Ershadul Haq, and Mirza Ekramul Haq, and to their relatives Asma Mirza, Manowara Mirza, Mirza Khairul Hossain, Saima Mirza, Mirza Abdus Salam Ranu, Muktarunnessa, Sara Mirza, Mirza Mozammel Hossain, and Mirza Farah Momtaz.

The land was acquired by the government in 1965. There was a slum on the government land for a long time which was demolished by police in the name of setting up a children’s park. But later it was allotted to Mirza Abbas’ family.

The local people yesterday said there is no children’s park or play ground in the densely populated Khilgaon area. Local youths used to play football and cricket on the piece of land before the motor workshops started to spring up there.