Stone looting: Sylhet DC withdrawn amid flak

Mohammad Sher Mahbub Murad, deputy commissioner of Sylhet, has been removed from his post and attached to the public administration ministry as an officer on special duty (OSD).

Sarwoer Alam, who is currently serving as the private secretary to the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment adviser, has been appointed as the new Sylhet DC.

The Ministry of Public Administration issued a notification regarding the transfers yesterday.

Meanwhile, Companiganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Azizunnahar has been transferred to Fenchuganj upazila, and Md Shafiqul Islam, the current UNO of Fenchuganj, has been appointed as the new Companiganj UNO.

Sylhet's Divisional Commissioner Khan Md Reza-Un-Nabi issued the transfer orders, confirmed Debojit Singha, additional divisional commissioner of Sylhet.

The local authorities have faced widespread criticism after reports surfaced on the rampant looting of stones from Bholaganj Sada Pathor in Sylhet's Companiganj upazila that has allegedly been going on since August 5 last year.

In the face of public outrage, joint forces, including local administration, police, Rab, and the army, launched operations to recover the stolen mineral resources.

As of Sunday, around 4.5 lakh cubic feet of stones were recovered during multiple drives conducted all over the Sylhet district.

On the same day, Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan accused the local administration of complicity in the looting of stones from Sada Pathor, and called for immediate action against those involved.

On August 15, Md Anwarul Habib, director general of the Bureau of Mineral Development (BMD), filed a case accusing around 1,500 unnamed inndividuals in connction to the looting of stones from Sada Pathor.

So far, five people have been arrested in the case.

According to the case statement, since August 5 last year, miscreants have been illegally extracting stones worth hundreds of crores of taka from the government-gazetted quarry area, as reported by several media outlets.

The statement also noted that the identities of those directly involved had remained unconfirmed until now.

On August 14, the High Court ordered the government to form a five-member committee with representatives from the district administration, BGB and Rab to list those involved in the looting and submit the report within 60 days.

On August 13, the Sylhet district administration formed a separate probe committee.

The three-member committee, headed by an additional deputy commissioner, was asked to submit its report by August 17 (Sunday).

However, failing to meet the deadline, the committee was given an extension of three more days.

[Our Sylhet correspondent contributed to this report.]