Members of Krishi Jomi Jiban Jibika Raksha Committee started an agitation against forcible land grabbing by the land mafia and have set on fire a makeshift thatched office of the land syndicate at Dakshinkhanda in Andal Police Station area of West Burdwan district.

The villagers have started agitation against the grabbing of their land and organised a protest rally. The land sharks have become very active after the Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport has become operational in Andal and have started grabbing land on both sides of the National Highway-19. On the Andal-Ukhra Road in Dakshinkhanda, there are vast tracts of agricultural land. Ujjwal Pal, one of the agitators, said that during the period 1992 to 2014, Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) has acquired about 30 acres of land for setting up of a colliery with a promise of providing a job to land owners who have at least one acre of land. But so far nobody has received any job from ECL, he has claimed.

Tapan Mukherjee, another member of the committee, said that recently a private company had proposed to start a coal mine in Madhujore and for that fresh land will be acquired on behalf of the coal company. But suddenly, in the past few days the land sharks have become very active and has set up a temporary thatched office on agricultural land. “We demand the coal company should directly negotiate with the land owners and we will not allow any middlemen or land mafia to grab our land,” he added. The villagers are also planning to submit a memorandum to the district administration with their demands.

In the meanwhile some unknown people have torched the temporary makeshift office of the land syndicate, leading to a huge stir in the locality. BJP general secretary, Abhijit Dutta has questioned why the local administration and BLLRO has remained mum on the issue so far. “Everybody knows who patronises these organised illegal syndicates,” he said. So far neither the coal company nor the local administration has given any statements on this issue. The local TMC has also remained silent on this issue. Andal Police have also been informed about the of the agitation and the setting on fire of the syndicate office.