The Traffic Department of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) did not pay around TK 150 crore for the requisitioned vehicles in the last 20 years, alleged leaders of transport owners and bus drivers associations.
They said police requisition more than 200 vehicles everyday in name of official duty. According to requisition law, every vehicle owner is entitled to get a minimum of Tk 1,000 per day excluding fuel cost for plying in Dhaka city. This means Tk 2 lakh have to be paid for 200 vehicles per day, Tk 60 lakh for a month and Tk 7.2 crore annually. But over the years, the police authorities did not pay the compensation.
The owner of the vehicles said that according to requisition law a vehicle would be freed for 45 days after its requisition. But police requisition the same vehicles even within 10 to 15 days without any notice, they alleged.
Sometimes, they also requisition loaded vehicles from the streets, harassing the passengers, they alleged.
Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh, a voluntary organisation, in 2010 filed a writ petition with the High Court challenging the validity of the Vehile Requisition Act. Following the writ petition, the HC had ordered the traffic police (under the Act of 103, ka, section- ii of sub- section-1) not to requisition any vehile without governmental work and pay the owners proper compensation.
Khandakar Enayetullah, the owner of Ena Transport and General Secretary of Dhaka Road Transport Owners Association said we appealed to the higher authorities to pay the deserved compensation but they didn’t respond to our request. They also do not maintain record of the period of requisition.
The vehicle owners also claimed that police officials sometimes requisition vehicles for their personal use in the name of official duty. If they (police) get permission for requisition of 5 vehicles, they allegedly harass at least 50 vehicles for taking bribe. The drivers who do not agree to pay the amount they demanded, their vehicles are selected for requisition, they further alleged.
Rakibul Islam, a microbus driver said sometimes police forcibly take our vehicles for personal use. Even the drivers are to pay the fuel cost as they threat us of severe consequences, he said. Sources said some owners have to count TK 25 to 30 lakh per year to avoid illegal requisition from the traffic police.
Mir Rezaul Alam, Joint Commissioner of Traffic Police, talking to this correspondent denied the allegation, saying: “The allegations of the owners are not true”.
“If they (owners) can provide any evidence of their claims then we will take action against the concerned officials,” he said.
