The committee said the property had remained entangled in legal complications for years.
24 October, 2026, 12:25 am
Last modified: 24 October, 2026, 12:32 am
The committee of a more than 350-year-old Kali temple in Nagarkanda upazila of Faridpur has alleged harassment over the mutation of its property and claimed that local individuals are building shops on the land despite administrative instructions against permanent construction.
The Sri Sri Char Jashordi Sarbajanin Kali Temple Committee made the allegations at a press conference at Faridpur Press Club yesterday. Its president, Advocate Bonani Dash, read out a written statement demanding mutation of the property in the temple's name and measures to stop the alleged encroachment.
Located beside Kalibari Bazar in Char Jashordi union, the temple has served as a place of worship for the local Hindu community for centuries, the committee said. According to the statement, local landowner Ram Shankar Sen and others allocated 1 acre and 43 decimals of land to the temple as devattor property, which is land dedicated to a specific deity. The land is recorded in the temple's name in the CS, SA and RS records and includes a cremation ground.
The committee said the property had remained entangled in legal complications for years. In 2001, then committee president Bani Kanta Basu and others filed a case with the Faridpur Senior Assistant Judge's Court against the deputy commissioner, additional deputy commissioner (revenue) and assistant commissioner (land).
The committee reported that the court ruled in favour of the plaintiffs that year, leading to the removal of the land from the government's 'Kha' list. However, the upazila land office has yet to complete the mutation in the temple's name, it alleged.
The committee claimed that current Assistant Commissioner (Land) Khairul Hasan had said he would not approve the mutation. It said the delay had hindered permanent development work and access to government grants while leaving the property vulnerable to encroachment.
Committee general secretary Nikhil Chandra Basu and joint general secretary Sanjay Sarkar, among others, attended the press conference. They alleged that Humayun Munshi, Delwar Matubbar, Selim Munshi of neighbouring Bahara village and several others were building shops on the temple land. Three shops had already been built, they claimed.
Sanjay Sarkar said the committee had informed the upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) and the assistant commissioner (land) while construction was underway. Although officials visited the site, no action followed, he alleged.
He further claimed that the UNO had issued a written instruction before Durga Puja prohibiting permanent construction but had subsequently given verbal instructions allowing semi-permanent structures to be built.
"How can he issue one instruction in writing and another verbally?" Sarkar asked.
The committee called on the authorities to complete the mutation and issue a record of rights in the temple's name, end bureaucratic complications and harassment, and take visible steps to protect the property.
Contacted over the allegations, Nagarkanda Assistant Commissioner (Land) Khairul Hasan said, "A probe report on the matter has been sent to the deputy commissioner." He declined to comment further without permission from his superiors.