Jumbangla Desk: Allegations have been made against advocate Omar Farooq, chairman of Char Jabbar Union of Subarnachar, Noakhali, former president of Upazila Awami League, of secretly selling more than half a hundred trees of Parishad complex.

A businessman named Jasim Uddin has been cutting the trees since Saturday (October 12).

Local residents said that on Saturday morning, a group of workers started cutting different species of trees including mahogany and cardamom inside the Charjabbar Union Parishad complex of Kanchanbazar upazila. About 60 small and big trees were cut till Sunday afternoon. Among them, 18 trees are big. The rest are small trees. Union Parishad panel chairman Abu Kawshar went to the spot and stopped the cutting of trees after receiving the news.

Charjabbar Union panel chairman member of Ward No. 3 Abu Kawshar complained and said, 'If the council wants to cut trees, it should be decided by resolution with everyone's consent. But the buyer claimed that the chairman has been absent from the council since August 5 and sold the trees secretly. We want to remedy this.'

The tree cutting workers said they were hired by Jasim, a tree trader in Kanchanbazar. They were cutting the trees with the chairman's permission.

Tree trader Jasim Uddin said, 'I bought 16 trees from the chairman for 35 thousand taka. Meanwhile, according to chairman Omar Farooq, I have also paid 30 thousand taka to a person named Arif. I will pay the rest later.'

He said, '12 trees have been cut down, the remaining four are still standing. But I don't know if the chairman has talked to anyone in his council about selling the trees or not.'

Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Charjabbar police station Shahed Mia told Jago News, "The secretary of the council, Bipu Lal Pal, filed a complaint with the police station as a plaintiff. Sub-Inspector (SI) Apu Barua has been asked to investigate the matter and take action.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer Mohammad Al Amin Sarkar said that the Chairman cannot sell the trees of the Union Parishad. The concerned department has been instructed to investigate the matter and take measures.