The High Court on Thursday directed the government to report by October 22 on the progress of investigating the Bholaganj white stone looting, identifying those responsible, and restoring the recovered stones to the riverbank.
The bench of Justice Kazi Zinat Hoque and Justice Aynun Nahar Siddiqua issued the order after the Sylhet deputy commissioner informed the court that the recovered stones were being repositioned and that efforts were underway to identify those responsible for complying with its earlier order issued on August 14.
The DC also told the court that surveillance was ongoing at the Bholaganj stone quarries.
The secretaries of the environment and mineral resources ministries informed the court that a case had been filed on August 15 against 1,500 to 2,000 people for stone theft.
They also said that a six-member expert committee, led by the mineral resources division, had been formed to assess the environmental damage caused by the removal of stones from the tourism zone. A teacher of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology is among the committee members to follow the court鈥檚 directive.聽
On August 14, the same bench ordered the government to prepare and submit a list of individuals and organisations responsible for the looting within 60 days.
The court also directed the Sylhet DC and the director generals of the Border Guard Bangladesh and the Rapid Action Battalion to submit compliance reports.
The High Court had earlier ordered the authorities to locate and recover the looted stones and return them to their original position along the banks of the Dholai River, a popular tourist spot.
The order came during a hearing of a public interest litigation filed by rights group Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh, along with Supreme Court lawyers Aklas Uddin Bhuiyan, Ripon Baroi, and Nasrin Sultana.
Senior lawyer Manzil Murshid appeared for the BRPB.