Police on Monday arrested three people for attacking the administration officials during an eviction drive on the banks of the Bakkhali River in Cox's Bazar.
The incident happened around 11:00am on the second day of the drive in the Kastaraghat area.
As soon as the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority and administration (BIWTA) officials began the operation, a large crowd began chanting slogans denouncing the raid.
At one point, they threw bricks and stones at the officers.
A policeman was injured after being hit in the head, said Additional Superintendent of Police Mohammad Jasim Uddin Chowdhury, adding that the injured policeman had been admitted to a hospital.
Police said three men were arrested at the scene.
Law enforcers then dispersed the crowd and the raid resumed, witnesses said.
According to the district administration, on 24 August this year, the High Court directed the government to prepare a list of all encroachers within the boundaries of the Bakkhali River and take effective measures within four months to evict illegal structures and control pollution.
On August 30, Adviser Brigadier General (retd), M Sakhawat Hossain, visited Cox's Bazar and instructed the authorities to prepare the list of encroachers and evict illegal structures.
Cox's Bazar Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Nizam Uddin Ahmed said, "This drive is being conducted to free the Bakkhali River from encroachment as per the directive of the High Court. The boundary of the river will be determined after all illegal structures are removed."
BIWTA says on February 6, 2010, the government, through a notification, declared 721 acres of land along the bank of the Bakkhali River as a river port. There are illegal structures on at least 300 acres of land.
Meanwhile, Khairuzzaman, assistant director of BIWTA Cox's Bazar office, said, "On the first day of the operation, more than 5 acres of land were cleared and over two hundred structures were evicted."
He mentioned that the operation will continue until 5 September, and approximately two thousand illegal structures will be removed.
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