UNB, Dhaka :
An influential syndicate allegedly extracts around Tk 60 lakh illegally every month from vehicles that go to the Dhaka circle office of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) in city’s Mirpur area to avail of various services.
The syndicate members first extort money from the vehicle owners while standing in queues and then for the retroreflective number plates.
Hashem Ali, a transport company driver who went to the BRTA office last week to get fitness licence for his vehicle, said he had to pay Tk 100 for parking his vehicle in a queue before entering the office premises.
When he asked the lineman why he was taking money, the lineman told him that it is mandatory for all to pay the sum, Hashem told UNB adding that he got a yellow receipt against the payment.
Sources at the BRTA circle office said, around 700-800 vehicles, including buses and trucks, have to wait in queues outside its premises every working day to avail themselves of various services, opening a scope for the syndicate of collecting at least Tk 70,000 every day.
Rajjab Ali, another driver, alleged that he had to pay additional Tk 1,000 for getting his retroreflective number plate.
However, he was not given any receipt against the money, he said while talking to UNB.
A BRTA official said they issue around 200 new digital registration number plates every day. That means, the gang extracts around Tk 2 lakh each day for providing the new number plates, said another driver Motaleb.
If 22 working days are counted in a month, the gangsters are collecting around Tk 60 lakh illegally from the vehicles, he said.
However, BRTA denied the allegation saying they have no knowledge about it.
Contacted, BRTA Deputy Director (Engineering) Md Masud Alam expressed his ignorance about the illegal money extraction.
When this correspondent showed him a Tk 100 yellow money receipt, which was given by a lineman to a vehicle standing in the queue outside the BRTA office, he said his people were not involved in such illegal act. “Perhaps, outsiders are involved in such illegal act,” he added.
About collecting Tk 1,000 for a new number plate inside the BRTA office, he said he has no knowledge about it. “I’ll investigate the allegation.”
An influential syndicate allegedly extracts around Tk 60 lakh illegally every month from vehicles that go to the Dhaka circle office of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) in city’s Mirpur area to avail of various services.
The syndicate members first extort money from the vehicle owners while standing in queues and then for the retroreflective number plates.
Hashem Ali, a transport company driver who went to the BRTA office last week to get fitness licence for his vehicle, said he had to pay Tk 100 for parking his vehicle in a queue before entering the office premises.
When he asked the lineman why he was taking money, the lineman told him that it is mandatory for all to pay the sum, Hashem told UNB adding that he got a yellow receipt against the payment.
Sources at the BRTA circle office said, around 700-800 vehicles, including buses and trucks, have to wait in queues outside its premises every working day to avail themselves of various services, opening a scope for the syndicate of collecting at least Tk 70,000 every day.
Rajjab Ali, another driver, alleged that he had to pay additional Tk 1,000 for getting his retroreflective number plate.
However, he was not given any receipt against the money, he said while talking to UNB.
A BRTA official said they issue around 200 new digital registration number plates every day. That means, the gang extracts around Tk 2 lakh each day for providing the new number plates, said another driver Motaleb.
If 22 working days are counted in a month, the gangsters are collecting around Tk 60 lakh illegally from the vehicles, he said.
However, BRTA denied the allegation saying they have no knowledge about it.
Contacted, BRTA Deputy Director (Engineering) Md Masud Alam expressed his ignorance about the illegal money extraction.
When this correspondent showed him a Tk 100 yellow money receipt, which was given by a lineman to a vehicle standing in the queue outside the BRTA office, he said his people were not involved in such illegal act. “Perhaps, outsiders are involved in such illegal act,” he added.
About collecting Tk 1,000 for a new number plate inside the BRTA office, he said he has no knowledge about it. “I’ll investigate the allegation.”
