Mohadevpur Dorpan, Quazi Sayeed Tito, Mohadevpur (Naogaon), 14 September 2024 : 

A series of attacks, beatings, arson and vandalism have been reported against traditional Osman Agro automatic Rice Mill in Mohadevpur district of Naogaon. As a result, the Rice Mill has been closed for a long time. More than 1500 workers of this Rice Mill have become unemployed. They are living an inhumane life with their families. 

Last Thursday (September 12) at 10 am, 60-70 people from different upazilas of the district, armed with various indigenous weapons, attacked this Rice mill. They broke the main gate of Rice mill and entered inside, vandalized various machinery and beat up common laborers and vandalized some motorcycles. At least 10 workers were injured in their assault. They have been treated at Upazila Health Complex. 

Shawon, manager of Osman Agro Private Limited, said that there are three rice mills with the same owner. The other two are Jamuna Automatic Rice Mill and Ruhul Amin Automatic Rice Mill. These three mills owe about Tk 250 million to the government and various mill owners due to business losses every year due to various reasons. As a result, mill owner Osman Gani declared himself bankrupt two years ago and filed a case in the High Court. Due to these reasons, the match was closed.

Last year, Nabeel Group reopened the mill. Creditors to the mill were being paid in stages. But a class of mill owners dismantled these huge mills and sold the machinery and often attacked the mills demanding payment of their dues. As a result, Nabeel Group closed their business recently due to their fear. As a result, the match was closed again.

On Thursday, Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal, son of the deceased Soyef Uddin of Raghunathpur village of Porsha upazila, said that they came to Mohadevpur to collect their dues. They went back in the face of obstacles from the mill workers. 

Officer-in-charge (OC) of Mohadevpur police station Ruhul Amin said that no complaint has been received in this regard. Action will be taken if complaints are received.