Tentultala heaves a sigh of relief

The residents living in the surrounding areas of Tentultala field at Kalabagan area in the capital heaved a sigh of relief after the decision not to construct Kalabagan police station building in the playground was made by the prime minister.

However, locals are still demanding to free the playground from the ownership of the police.

After the PM's decision, the police personnel, deployed on the field to prevent children from entering into the playground, left the spot on Thursday night, taking away the construction materials and the chairs they sat on while on duty.

On Friday, although the field was mostly empty from around 12pm to 3pm, local children and teenagers came to play in the afternoon. Parents were also seen walking along.

To find out whether the wall already erected by police on the playground would be demolished or not, several police officials could not be reached despite repeated attempts.

Syeda Ratna, one of the leading activists of the "Save Tentultala Playground" movement, told The Business Standard, "I have been protesting against the thana construction along with the locals for so long. Now the field is open to all. Everyone will now say what they expect about the field."

The unused 20 katha area under DNCC Ward N-17 has been used as a local social and cultural festival and playground for over 50 years. After the field was selected for the construction of the police station in 2020, the locals started protesting,

On 31 January this year, barbed wire was erected surrounding the playground. At the same time, some policemen of Kalabagan police station started guarding the field on a routine basis.

On Sunday, Kalabagan police detained Syeda Ratna and her 17-year-old son for allegedly obstructing government work.

They were released after more than 10 hours of detention upon undertaking that they will not obstruct any government work in the future.