Illegal house of ACC counsel Kazol’s father-in-law demolished in eviction drive

Anti-Corruption Commission lawyer Mosharraf Hossain Kazol has failed to save a house, what he says belongs to his father-in-law, from demolition during the ongoing eviction drives to free the Buriganga River from encroachment.

The three-storey building, constructed at Jhauchar in Dhaka’s Kamrangirchar, was among over 100 structures that were bulldozed in the drive by Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority or BIWTA on Wednesday.

“It was built illegally,” AKM Arif Uddin, a joint director at the BIWTA, told bdnews24.com.

“Its owner Mosharraf Hossain Kazol came during the demolition, but he could not show any valid document,” he added. 

Speaking to bdnews24.com, Kazol said his father-in-law bought the property in 1961.

File Photo: Mosharraf Hossain Kazol speaking to the media on Old Dhaka's Nazimuddin Road after the verdict on the Aug 21 grenade attack case on Oct 10, 2018. Photo: Abdullah Al Momin

“It’s not illegal. We have all necessary documents, but they have demolished it without giving any notice and checking papers,” Kazol said.

He questioned the competency of the executive magistrate who led the drive, calling the magistrate a “stupid” and raising allegation of nepotism.

“It (eviction) has been done without demarking the boundary of the river bank. A stupid magistrate has done it. Another adjacent building was not demolished because it belongs to a BIWTA engineer,” the ACC lawyer said.

He threatened to sue for compensation.

BIWTA Joint Director Arif had earlier said the authorities identified 609 illegal structures on the banks of the river from Sdarghat to Gabtoli and these would be razed gradually.

The authorities are conducting the drives following High Court orders.

The court, declaring the rivers “legal person”, ordered the government to bar encroachers from contesting in elections and receiving bank loans.