Staff Reporter :
Extortion in the business sector has taken an alarming turn nowadays despite measures taken by the law enforcing agencies, according to businessmen of the city markets.
Several shop owners alleged that the crime syndicates are collecting millions of taka a day from posh shopping mall to footpath vendors with the help of dishonest officials of the local police stations.
Shop owners have to pay large amount of tolls to extortionists, as local political leaders-backed musclemen have geared up the extortion, they said. Extortion in case of street vendors is visible while it occurs from behind the scene through cellular phone contacts in case of posh shopping centers.
Around 5 lakh street hawkers and vendors in different parts of the city, including Gulistan, Motijheel, New Market, Gawshia and Farmgate, are paying money for using the footpath for businesses, sources said. A huge number of seasonal hawkers are also adding extra amount to the account of extortionists based on area. The amount they pay varies between Tk50 and Tk500 per day.
Political party cadres extort around Tk 474.50 crore every year from hawkers in Dhaka city alone, and about Tk 375.50 crore in the rest of the country, said a leader Bangladesh Hawkers Federation.
Policemen engage agents, known as linemen, to collect money from stalls on footpaths. In return, they give protection to hawkers, according to a number of hawkers.
“If I pay a lineman Tk 20, I don’t need to worry about other thugs. I will not be driven away from the footpath,” said, Alamgir Mia, a hawker who sells combs and cutters on Mirpur road, who has been paying extortion for last six years.
“I will not be allowed to open my stall if I don’t pay them money for snacks and tea every day,” said a tea-stall owner on Green Road, asking not to be named.
Hawkers of several areas have also alleged that police and ruling party men also extort money from them in the name of cleaning footpaths and providing electricity.
Ahmed Hossain, a small vendor, who sells rejected brand items of garments in front of Sonali Bank head office, said: “None is allowed to continue business in the footpath if he does not comply to demand of toll collectors.”
Osman Habib, from Barisal, who sells leather goods including gent’s waist belt and purse on the footpath at the same area, said that some linemen, employed by local political mastans [musclemen], collect toll from him.
The range of payment varies from Tk 20 to Tk 400, depending on commercial importance of the location and size of the business.
For instance, if a hawker has a big stall on a footpath in Motijheel or Farmgate areas, he has to pay around Tk 350 to Tk 400 a day. And for a smaller stall in areas such as Shukrabad or Shyamoli, the amount ranges from Tk 20 to Tk 100.
A lineman collects money from stalls on certain footpaths under a police station and never asks for money from hawkers in other areas. A hawker leader said, “At least one sardar [team leader] is assigned to guide the linemen working in the areas under a police station.” There are 49 police stations in the capital.
Leaders of the business community alleged that the extortion from shops and footpath vendors have added more complexity in running their business when extortion was unbridled from the goods laden trucks and cargo carriers in the highways by the hoodlums under police protection.
Admitting the fact, MA Kashem, president of the Bangladesh Hawkers’ Federation, said that they have already contacted with the police and other concerned in this regard.
Echoing the same, Kamal Siddique, president of the Chinnomul Hawkers’ Association, said that extortion in the footpath is unabated, but the authorities are indifferent to it.
Meanwhile, the extortion on the highways and ferry terminals has also become rampant in spite of the police and the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation officials’ presence. Particularly, the illegal toll collection is unbridled at Paturia, Daulatdia, Mawa and Kaorakandi ferry terminals in nowadays.
There is widespread allegation that a nexus between corrupt officials, including police, and influential political leaders, is responsible for extortion at the bus and ferry terminals.
Sources said a section of dishonest law enforcers in connivance with criminals are extorting money from drivers of trucks and container carriers on the highways, contributing to the price spiral of essentials in the markets.
Many drivers alleged that the illegal toll collection from cargo laden trucks at different points on the highways, particularly at Bangabandhu Multipurpose Bridge at Sirajganj, developed severe traffic congestion in the recent days resulting untold sufferings to the homebound people.
