Police files case after temporary Shiva temple comes up in Agartala graveyard

Police have lodged a case after a complaint was filed by a graveyard committee here alleging an illegal temple has been set up on a land being used as a burial ground, officials said Tuesday.

Officials said the temple is illegal and police have deployed security personnel at the spot in South Joynagar area of Agartala, the capital city of BJP-ruled Tripura.

Tahar Miah, secretary of the South Joynagar Kabarstan Suraksha Committee, said the temporary Shiva temple was built there on the eve of Maha Shivaratri to grab the land used as a graveyard by the minority community for the last 70 years.

"We have sought help from the police to ensure that our burial spot is not affected, since any ownership otherwise could not be proved in the court of law. We want the entire land to be handed over to us," said Miah, who lodged the complaint on Monday.

Pradip Das, a local, claimed before a group of visiting journalists that a part of the land belonged to him and "forced burial" had started there around 25 years ago with the help of CPI(M), the then ruling party.

Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Sadar, Ajay Kumar Das said one person has claimed that the land belonged to him but could not produce any document to prove it.

"A temple made of bamboo and cloth was built on the land. Some people started worshipping a deity of Lord Shiva there. The structure is illegal. The area is a burial ground. We have deployed security personnel to avoid any untoward incident," Das said.

The graveyard committee secretary said the land is owned by one Abdul Ahad Miah of the area.

Pradip Das, however, claimed he owned 5,184 sq ft of the around 11,000 sq ft land. He said the remaining portion belonged to Abdul Ahad Miah.

However, he admitted that he does not have any mutation paper.

Tahar Miah said Das had moved three courts including the Tripura High Court to prove entitlement of the land but failed each time.

Das had challenged in the high court a verdict of the West Tripura Additional District Judge who turned down his entitlement plea.

Justice Subhashish Talapatra of the High Court of Tripura on November 11, 2017, said, "The appeal does not have any merit and accordingly it is dismissed at this stage."