At least five women were injured as a local influential person and his men attacked and ransacked 17 houses in an attempt to illegally evict indigenous people in Shialor village in Haripur upazila yesterday.
Of the injured indigenous women, Baramai Maddi, 46, was committed to Haripur Upazila Health Complex in a critical state.
Police said Abdul Alim and his men attacked the indigenous people around 11:30am and badly damaged 17 thatched houses.
President of Jatiya Adibashi Parishad of Haripur unit Soniram Hemrom told The Daily Star about 50 people led by Alim launched the attack for illegally evicting them from Som Maddi's ancestral land.
Alim claimed he purchased the 3.25 acres of land from Som's mother 22 years ago. However, Soniram trashed the claim and said in their tradition mothers cannot sell any land.
Soniram added on the day of the attack the indigenous male people went to the district headquarters to attend hearing of a case filed by Alim against 200 people to "harass" them.
The District Jatiya Adibashi Parishad protested the incident and submitted a memorandum to Water Resources Minister Ramesh Chandra Sen and Deputy Commissioner Munshi Shahabuddin Ahmed in the afternoon.
In the memorandum they demanded immediate arrest of the attackers and withdrawal all false cases against the indigenous people.
