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RANGPUR, Oct 22: The immersion of Durga idols remained stalled in Rangpur city on Thursday, a day after Bijoya Dashami, amid a dispute between two groups over land ownership and control of a temple in the Thikadarp ara area.
Tensions continued from Wednesday night until Thursday afternoon, with road blockades and rival groups taking positions. The idols were eventually brought back and kept inside the temple. Additional police personnel and a platoon of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) members were deployed to maintain order.
According to local sources and police, Durga Puja has been held at a temporary pavilion on three decimals of land owned by Dasharath Chandra in Thikadarp ara since 2007. This year, the puja committee planned to install Kali and other idols at the site after Durga Puja and prepare for the construction of a permanent temple.
The landowner and his family objected to the plan and demanded that the site be cleared after the idols were immersed, triggering a dispute with the puja committee.
Earlier, a meeting involving the district puja celebration committee and local leaders was held at the office of the Rangpur Metropolitan Police Commissioner. The meeting decided that the festival could proceed this year and that the land would be returned to its owner behind a boundary wall after the immersion. The landowner’s family had reportedly accepted the decision.
However, allegations later emerged that a faction of the puja committee attempted to retain the land permanently on Bijoya Dashami afternoon. The group reportedly decided to immerse two of the four idols while keeping the other two at the site.
The disagreement divided local Hindu residents, with one group supporting the landowner’s demand and another insisting that the remaining idols should not be removed.
Although a truck had been prepared for the immersion from 5:00pm on Wednesday, puja committee president Prankrishna Goswami and general secretary Kamal Goswami opposed removing the idols. The dispute led to several incidents of pushing and scuffling between the two groups.
Joint Commissioner of Rangpur Metropolitan Police Tofail Ahmed, along with BGB and army personnel, visited the scene at night and attempted to mediate. However, the puja committee leaders reportedly refused to move the idols. Road blockades and disturbances continued until around 3:00am on Thursday, when the committee leaders left after announcing that the immersion would not take place.
The deadlock persisted on Thursday morning. Kotwali Police Station investigation officer Milan Chatterjee said the puja committee was willing to immerse the idols but did not agree to vacate the temple, while the landowner’s family insisted that all idols be removed and the land returned.
At around 8:30am, the idols were brought back to the temple from a procession. Police said efforts were continuing to reach a solution acceptable to both sides.
Kamal Goswami said the committee had been organising the puja at the site for years and wanted to continue doing so. Although the committee did not own the land, he said, a court case over the property was pending.
Shamsuzzaman Shamu, convener of Rangpur Metropolitan BNP and chairman of the Rangpur Development Authority, alleged that a vested group, along with some Awami League leaders, was seeking to create disorder by insisting that two idols remain at the site.
Tofail Ahmed said a peaceful environment had been established for the festival following the police commissioner’s intervention, but the parties had repeatedly changed their positions. Police had maintained the necessary deployment to prevent further disorder and preserve law and order, he added.