Birthplace of extortion: Extortion in rickshaws on 100 yards road is more than 21 lakhs
Panthpath signal is a little further from the capital's Farmgate. The road distance from Farmgate to Panthpath signal is only 700 meters. However, it has been reported that more than 21 lakh illegal tolls are collected annually from approximately 100 yards of the road from Panthpath signal to Kazipara junction within the 700 meter road. The busy road has now turned into a den of illegal extortion.
Private University Asia Pacific can be seen just a little further along the road in front of Anand Cinema Hall located at Farmgate of the capital. Crossing the educational institution and moving forward, you will see hundreds of rickshaws parked on the road adjacent to the old gate of Pani Bhavan. As a result, the common people traveling on this road are suffering daily.
Common people suffer due to illegal rickshaw garages occupying the road but few people are benefiting. Among which are the names of some local leaders and activists of the ruling party.
The road was seen on spot visit, rickshaws plying in different parts of the capital came and accumulated at this place after 7 pm. During the day, 50 to 60 rickshaws are always parked here, but as the night progresses, the rickshaw line gets longer. Basically the rickshaw pullers park the rickshaws all night on this road after earning the whole day. As a result of rickshaw parking on the main road, traffic jams are also seen on this road most of the time after evening.
According to the investigation, more than 300 rickshaws are parked every day in this garage built by occupying the road. A fee of Tk. 20 per day is charged from the rickshaws for this parking.
If a minimum of 300 rickshaws are accounted, according to the calculation, daily fee is collected from the rickshaw garage built in this short distance area of Tk. 6 thousand. As such, the amount of monthly subscription is Tk. 1 lakh 80 thousand. And at the end of the year, this figure stands at Tk. 21 lakh 60 thousand.
According to the complaints of common people traveling on the road, rickshaws are kept on this road with regular subscription through lineman. And the local leaders and activists of the ruling party get the share of this contribution. Basically they collect money through linemen.
Barta24.com conducted an investigation based on the source of the complaint. The investigation revealed the name of a person named Sohail who was allegedly in charge of the lineman. He is the one who collects regular subscriptions and built a rickshaw garage occupying the main road. He also built a rice hotel next to the footpath next to this rickshaw garage.
Meanwhile, talking to several rickshaw pullers who use the garage, they also admitted that they have to pay Tk. 20 per rickshaw. However, in most cases, the rickshaw owners calculate the number of their rickshaws and give subscription to Sohail, they said.
When asked about these matters, Lineman Sohel told Barta24.com that these are not extortion. Those poor people leave their rickshaws here. Leave it at night, take it again in the morning. Why don't you see everything else? Why are you so paranoid about this road, brother, don't you do other work? I will talk to you later.
When asked about this, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Tejgaon Traffic Division, Mostak Ahmed told Barta24.com that when I am in charge, we keep the main road (main road) empty. And the sidewalks are usually watched by police.
He said, "When my traffic police are on duty during the day, we try to keep all the roads empty." There is no opportunity to occupy the main road. And if such matters remain, then we will ask the Thana police to take action.
Tejgaon Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mohammad Mohsin told Barta24.com that action has been taken against them several times. Regular evacuations are also done. We constantly work against them. Meanwhile, the police brought them and removed them. We continue our efforts.
In response to the question of how they occupy the place and resume their activities even if they are sometimes evicted, he said, when the operation is carried out, everyone gets better, but when the eviction is over, they go back to their previous positions; What to do? As long as people are not good, it is difficult to complete these tasks completely.
However, the officer-in-charge (OC) of Tejgaon police station Mohammad Mohsin sometimes gave the information about the evacuation, but the traders in the vicinity said that the traders staying in this area were evacuated but the rickshaw garage was not evacuated.
On the condition of anonymity, a local businessman said that all the shops have been raided at various times around the sidewalk or road. But I have never seen a rickshaw raiding this garage. I have been doing business here for almost 4 to 5 years now, but I have never seen any action taken against this garage even once.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Dhaka North City Corporation told Barta24.com that you provide details including address on WhatsApp, we will look into the matter and take appropriate action.