Developers grab graveyard in Burdwan, threaten complainant
The Statesman | 15 November 2025
Six bighas of ‘vacant’ land in the heart of Burdwan town can be the target of any real estate shark, even if the land happens to be a burial ground. The machinations of one such developers’ company resulted in a complaint being lodged with the district administration yesterday.
The complainant, however, was forced to flee his home adjacent to the land within hours of his filing the protest after “four or five goons appeared at his residence” in the evening and threatened him “with extreme consequences”. He has now taken refuge with relatives in a different neighbourhood.
The land, located at Bhatchhala area under Ward 18 of the Burdwan Municipality, is recorded as a Waqf property and a burial ground. A portion of it – 1.63 bighas, to be exact – has allegedly been grabbed by a real estate developing company for a building project in collusion with the ward’s councillor, the complaint registered by the authorities said.
Imdad Hossen, who has been a resident of Bhatchhala for years, in his complaint stated: “The councillor of Ward 18 is actively pursuing the unauthorised and illegal transfer of the land that the locals use as a registered graveyard.” The said property (No: EC – 12751 in the municipal records) has been ‘leased out’ to the developers by the Trinamul Congress councillor Pradip Rahaman.
The councillor has admitted that some irregularities were going on with the land, but has denied any involvement. “The charge of my involvement is baseless and I, too, invite an independent probe into this.”
Mohammed Murselin Farhan, chairman of Bongiyo Waqf Bachao Manch, an organisation struggling to protect Waqf properties across the state, said: “Besides the East Burdwan district administration, we have also lodged a complaint, saying that councillor Rahaman is trying to endorse the developers’ claim on the property. We’ve already inspected the property and discussed the matter with both the parties. However, the discussions failed to yield any effective outcome.”
Bagbul Islam, a West Bengal Waqf Board member, said: “Since a complaint was registered with the district administration, we should wait for some time for their investigation. We won’t let anyone, whoever he is, to acquire a single inch of Waqf property here.”