Mohammad Hoshon, the local ward Awami League secretary, is encroaching on two acres of forest land in the Medakchhapiya National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in the Fulchhari Range of the Cox’s Bazar North Forest Division to build a garden house.
However, the accused, Mohammad Hoshon, claims that in 2023, he bought the encroachment from the then Medakchhapiya Bit Officer (currently working in the Yangcha Forest Bit of the Lama Forest Division) Mostafiz at a price of Tk 2.70 lakh per kani and built a polythene fence house.
He is building a garden house on that land by managing the current range officer and making it suitable for the house.
Locals, including Mohammad Hoshon, consider building a garden house with the help of the forest officer to be a legal act.
Because, the then forest bandit local villager Nurul Islam alias Dakat Nuraiya also made a deal in buying and selling land.
However, due to encroachment, the biodiversity of the national park has been reduced and is under threat.
The Gorjan Bagan of Medakachhpiya Forest in the Fulchhari Range of the Cox’s Bazar North Forest Division, located in Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh, is a national park. This is a natural forest. This forest is well known for its huge mother-tree Gorjan tree.
After establishing the park with 395.92 hectares of forest land in 2004, the government officially declared it a national park in August 2008.

The name of the Divisional Forest Officer of the Cox’s Bazar North Forest Division is Md. Maruf Hossain. The Assistant Conservator of Forests is Sheetal Pal.
Currently, Rasik Ahsan Deepta is in charge of the Fulchhari Forest Range. Kachhpiya Forest Bit is in charge of Bit Officer Mominur Rahman.
In Khutakhali on the Cox’s Bazar-Chittagong highway, the forest officials themselves are selling the national park, including the Gorjon Bagan, visible on both sides of the two-kilometer road.
The boundaries of the forest land are shrinking acre after acre due to the clutches of corrupt forest officials and employees.
Although the local forest king, the forest bandit Inu Bahini, was killed in the crossfire of the Inu joint forces, his chief, Nurul Islam alias Bandit Nuraiya, remains.
Bandit Nuraiya, in collusion with some corrupt officials and employees of the forest department, registered his name in Villager No. 2.
On a visit to the national park, it was seen that at least a hundred houses have been forcibly occupied through corruption in the last ten years in Paglirbil Konapara, Khutakhali. More are being built.
Biodiversity is under threat due to the construction of houses by force. The national park is shrinking.
On the ground, two acres of land belonging to the garden nursery is being occupied, and mother trees are being cut down to create land and houses are being built.
Mohammad Hochan, the secretary of the local ward Awami League, is creating a garden of various vegetables including amla and mango on the remaining land.
Mohammad Hochan said that in the past 2022-23, the BIT officer Mostafiz was in charge of the Medakachchhpia forest BIT.
He is managing the current range officer Rasik Ahsan Deepta and is building a garden by building a tin set mud house with a fence.

In this regard, Chittagong Regional Forest Conservator Dr. Molly Rezaul Karim said, “I also think that the moral standards and patriotism of those engaged in forest protection have been destroyed like all other professions in the country.
Especially during the previous government, opportunities for these character lapses have been created due to political patronage.” He also said that for the past one year, efforts have been made to restore patriotism and morality among everyone.
However, despite repeated attempts, Chittagong Regional Forest Conservator Dr. Molly Rezaul Karim did not answer whether he would take any steps to evict these houses, tactfully avoiding the answer.
As a result of continuous encroachment, the area of ​​Medakachchhpia National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary is shrinking along with the threat to biodiversity.