Armed men seize shrimp farm of foundation set up by Nobel Laureate Yunus

About 50 armed men, firing shots in the air, grabbed a 300-acre shrimp farm, owned by a foundation established by Nobel Laureate Mohammad Yunus in Cox’s Bazar district, police said Wednesday.

The unknown attackers raided the 25-year-old shrimp farm in Cox’s Bazar’s Chakaria Sundarbans under Rampura mouza on Monday night, reports news agency UNB.

The miscreants tied up 10 to 15 officials and employees of the farm, beat up and drove them away. The farm is run by Grameen Fisheries and Livestock foundation of Mohammad Yunus.

Utpal Kanti, manager of the farm for the last 25 years, said the attackers occupied the farm and beat up the employees.

He lodged a complaint with Chakaria police station on Tuesday night.

Officer-in-charge of Chakaria police station Shaker Mohammad Jubayer said he has received a written complaint about seizing of the shrimp farm.

The incident is being investigated, he said.

Chakaria Upazila Parishad chairman Fazlul Karim Sayedee said this was the first time that such a large farm in Rampur area was forcefully occupied.

In this regard, Iqbal Hossain, regional fisheries officer of Cox’s Bazar said, “Out of 7,000 acres of shrimp farms in Chakaria Rampur mouza, 300 acres of land was leased to the Grameen Fisheries Foundation.”

The 15-year lease expired in 2014. A case is pending in the court between Grameen Bank and the Fisheries Department over the issue of extending the lease, he added.