Buses do not stop at the dilapidated bus terminal. However, tolls are being collected on the highway in the name of parking fees. This toll festival is going on in Rajbari in the name of terminal parking fee. Transport drivers and workers are helpless due to this.

Although buses do not stop at the terminal, toll is being collected from long-distance buses in the chicken farm area of the Rajbari-Kushtia regional highway, three kilometers away from the terminal.

The District Road Transport Owners Group, an organization of bus owners, is collecting such extortion from Dhaka-bound long-distance passenger buses in Rajbari. Transport workers are angry about this. The pourashava authority, the owner of the terminal, calls the collection of terminal fee money on the highway extortion. However, the police have assured to take action to stop this extortion.

It is learned that the central bus terminal located in Sreepur, a city owned by Rajbari Pourashava, has not been operational even after 32 years of construction due to various mismanagement. Due to long-term non-use, the doors and windows of the rooms in the terminal building have broken. The plaster has fallen off, and there is jungle and garbage all around. Abdur Razzak Liton, General Secretary of the District Road Transport Owners Group, has leased the dilapidated bus terminal from the pourashava.

Transport workers alleged that people from the District Road Transport Owners Group are collecting a fee of Tk. 150 to Tk. 200 per bus by showing a slip of Tk. 50 for the terminal parking fee.

After investigation, it was learned that the biennial election of the Rajbari District Road Transport Owners Group was held on January 2, 2023. District Awami League General Secretary Kazi Iradat Ali was elected president unopposed for the fifth time in the election. Abdur Razzak Liton, the owner of Rabeya Paribahan, was elected general secretary. Since the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, Kazi Iradat Ali has been in hiding and Parimal Kumar Saha is currently serving as the acting president of the group. Before August 5, Dhaka-bound transports used to collect Tk. 280 per trip. After the fall of the government, the collection of extortion was stopped for a few days. However, from September 3, extortion from transport started again under the leadership of acting president Parimal Kumar Saha and general secretary Abdur Razzak Liton and influential leaders of the group. According to sources related to transport, several long-distance passenger transports including Dhaka-bound Hanif, Golden Line, Rabeya, Zaman, Souhardyo, Saptabarna, FK Super Deluxe, Rajdhani Express, Shyamoli, Tuhin, Sarkar, SB Super Deluxe, Diganta, Rozina, Lalon Shah, BRTC, MM Transport travel over Rajbari. Among them, the owners of Rabeya, Zaman, Souhardyo, Saptabarna, Sarkar and MM Paribahan are part of the Rajbari District Road Transport Owners Group. The other long-distance transports are part of the Kushtia, Faridpur and Dhaka Bus Owners Association. Since the owners of Rozina and Diganta Paribahan are Dhaka's Gabtoli Association, no subscription is taken from them. Since the owners of Golden Line, Hanif and Shyamoli Paribahan are influential, no toll is taken from them either. Toll is also waived for the transports included in the Rajbari District Road Transport Owners Group.

However, subscription is taken from some other transports outside Kushtia, including Lalon Shah, Rajdhani Express, SB Super Deluxe and FK Super Deluxe Paribahan.

It was learned from talking to these transport authorities that 6 trips of Lalon Shah Paribahan from Kushtia to Dhaka pass over Rajbari every day. A total of Tk.1,200 is taken from this transport every day, at Tk. 200 per trip. SB Super Deluxe runs 14 trips. A total of Tk. 2,100 is collected from this transport at a rate of Tk. 150 per trip. In addition, Tk. 450 is collected from 3 trips of Rajdhani Express and Tk. 600 from 4 trips of FK Super Deluxe. Only these 4 transports collect Tk. 4,350 every day. Which amounts to Tk. 1,30,500 when calculated monthly. Adding other external transports, the amount of collection collected from the highway by the Rajbari District Road Transport Owners Group every month amounts to at least Tk. 1.5 lakh.

Supervisor Abdur Razzak said, ‘There is no rule for collecting such collection from the highway in the name of terminal fee. The people of the Rajbari District Road Transport Owners Group are forcibly collecting Tk. 200 per trip from us. We want a remedy for this.’

Rajdhani Express driver Md. Hussain said, ‘The people of the Rajbari District Road Transport Owners Group collect Tk. 150 per trip from our vehicle. If you don't pay the extortion, they stop the car and call the owner and talk nonsense.'

Rajbari Pourashava Executive Officer Md. Tayeb Ali said, 'We have leased the terminal. Here, the lease money will be collected from inside the terminal. There is no opportunity to collect this money from anywhere else. If any person or anyone withdraws this money from any place other than the terminal, it will be considered extortion. We do not support this. This is completely illegal.' The Pourashva Executive Officer assured that necessary action will be taken if anyone complains about this.

In this regard, Highway Police Madaripur Region Police Superintendent Mohammad Shahinur Alam Khan said, 'They will collect the parking fee of the municipality terminal from a place under their jurisdiction. There is no opportunity to come on the highway and extort. We will look into the matter and take legal action.' Abdur Razzak Liton, General Secretary of Rajbari District Road Transport Group, said, 'As per the group's decision, the bus terminal was leased for one year by the municipality for about 3 million taka in the name of the General Secretary. The terminal parking fee is being collected from the bus at Tk. 50. There is no unfair or illegal extortion here.’

Why is the terminal fee being collected on the highway three kilometers away from the terminal? This Secretary of the District Road Transport Owners Group could not give a good answer to this question.

Staff Correspondent, Barta24.com

Rajbari: Buses do not stop at the dilapidated bus terminal. However, tolls are being collected on the highway in the name of parking fees. This toll festival is going on in Rajbari in the name of terminal parking fee. Transport drivers and workers are helpless due to this.

Although buses do not stop at the terminal, toll is being collected from long-distance buses in the chicken farm area of the Rajbari-Kushtia regional highway, three kilometers away from the terminal.

The District Road Transport Owners Group, an organization of bus owners, is collecting such extortion from Dhaka-bound long-distance passenger buses in Rajbari. Transport workers are angry about this. The pourashava authority, the owner of the terminal, calls the collection of terminal fee money on the highway extortion. However, the police have assured to take action to stop this extortion.

It is learned that the central bus terminal located in Sreepur, a city owned by Rajbari Pourashava, has not been operational even after 32 years of construction due to various mismanagement. Due to long-term non-use, the doors and windows of the rooms in the terminal building have broken. The plaster has fallen off, and there is jungle and garbage all around. Abdur Razzak Liton, General Secretary of the District Road Transport Owners Group, has leased the dilapidated bus terminal from the pourashava.

Transport workers alleged that people from the District Road Transport Owners Group are collecting a fee of Tk. 150 to Tk. 200 per bus by showing a slip of Tk. 50 for the terminal parking fee.

After investigation, it was learned that the biennial election of the Rajbari District Road Transport Owners Group was held on January 2, 2023. District Awami League General Secretary Kazi Iradat Ali was elected president unopposed for the fifth time in the election. Abdur Razzak Liton, the owner of Rabeya Paribahan, was elected general secretary. Since the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, Kazi Iradat Ali has been in hiding and Parimal Kumar Saha is currently serving as the acting president of the group. Before August 5, Dhaka-bound transports used to collect Tk. 280 per trip. After the fall of the government, the collection of extortion was stopped for a few days. However, from September 3, extortion from transport started again under the leadership of acting president Parimal Kumar Saha and general secretary Abdur Razzak Liton and influential leaders of the group. According to sources related to transport, several long-distance passenger transports including Dhaka-bound Hanif, Golden Line, Rabeya, Zaman, Souhardyo, Saptabarna, FK Super Deluxe, Rajdhani Express, Shyamoli, Tuhin, Sarkar, SB Super Deluxe, Diganta, Rozina, Lalon Shah, BRTC, MM Transport travel over Rajbari. Among them, the owners of Rabeya, Zaman, Souhardyo, Saptabarna, Sarkar and MM Paribahan are part of the Rajbari District Road Transport Owners Group. The other long-distance transports are part of the Kushtia, Faridpur and Dhaka Bus Owners Association. Since the owners of Rozina and Diganta Paribahan are Dhaka's Gabtoli Association, no subscription is taken from them. Since the owners of Golden Line, Hanif and Shyamoli Paribahan are influential, no toll is taken from them either. Toll is also waived for the transports included in the Rajbari District Road Transport Owners Group.

However, subscription is taken from some other transports outside Kushtia, including Lalon Shah, Rajdhani Express, SB Super Deluxe and FK Super Deluxe Paribahan.

It was learned from talking to these transport authorities that 6 trips of Lalon Shah Paribahan from Kushtia to Dhaka pass over Rajbari every day. A total of Tk.1,200 is taken from this transport every day, at Tk. 200 per trip. SB Super Deluxe runs 14 trips. A total of Tk. 2,100 is collected from this transport at a rate of Tk. 150 per trip. In addition, Tk. 450 is collected from 3 trips of Rajdhani Express and Tk. 600 from 4 trips of FK Super Deluxe. Only these 4 transports collect Tk. 4,350 every day. Which amounts to Tk. 1,30,500 when calculated monthly. Adding other external transports, the amount of collection collected from the highway by the Rajbari District Road Transport Owners Group every month amounts to at least Tk. 1.5 lakh.

Supervisor Abdur Razzak said, ‘There is no rule for collecting such collection from the highway in the name of terminal fee. The people of the Rajbari District Road Transport Owners Group are forcibly collecting Tk. 200 per trip from us. We want a remedy for this.’

Rajdhani Express driver Md. Hussain said, ‘The people of the Rajbari District Road Transport Owners Group collect Tk. 150 per trip from our vehicle. If you don't pay the extortion, they stop the car and call the owner and talk nonsense.'

Rajbari Pourashava Executive Officer Md. Tayeb Ali said, 'We have leased the terminal. Here, the lease money will be collected from inside the terminal. There is no opportunity to collect this money from anywhere else. If any person or anyone withdraws this money from any place other than the terminal, it will be considered extortion. We do not support this. This is completely illegal.' The Pourashva Executive Officer assured that necessary action will be taken if anyone complains about this.

In this regard, Highway Police Madaripur Region Police Superintendent Mohammad Shahinur Alam Khan said, 'They will collect the parking fee of the municipality terminal from a place under their jurisdiction. There is no opportunity to come on the highway and extort. We will look into the matter and take legal action.' Abdur Razzak Liton, General Secretary of Rajbari District Road Transport Group, said, 'As per the group's decision, the bus terminal was leased for one year by the municipality for about 3 million taka in the name of the General Secretary. The terminal parking fee is being collected from the bus at Tk. 50. There is no unfair or illegal extortion here.’

Why is the terminal fee being collected on the highway three kilometers away from the terminal? This Secretary of the District Road Transport Owners Group could not give a good answer to this question.