Taking cash from traders illegally is still going on like Sheikh Hasina’s regime

 
A staggering Tk 2.21 crore is extorted daily from 53 transport terminals and stands in Dhaka city. The amount goes up to Tk 66.3 crore and sometimes Tk 80 crore per month, a government probe has found.

The investigation by an intelligence agency done after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government also found that local influential figures and political party leaders, especially those connected with Bangladesh Nationalist Party or BNP, are involved in the extortion, according to sources in the Roads and Highways Department.

During the Awami League (AL) rule, the party's leaders and activists had established a system of extortion, which apparently was risky as they used a "token" that left a paper trail. However, after the termination of the AL regime, the system was taken over especially by BNP leaders and their associates.

Extortionists call themselves activists of Chhatra Dal or Jubo Dal in most of the cases, traders in Karwan Bazar and some other markets in Dhaka city have complained to journalists. Some other people who call themselves leaders of Sramik Dal and Shechchhashebak Dal also extort money from businessmen allegedly.

The above business owners did not dare to tell the names and identities of the extortionists because these traders are too worried about their own safety. These traders have said that they stand nowhere in comparison with the power of extortionists. This is how their helpless plight has been unfolded.

Most of the shop owners across Bangladesh have said that Awami League leaders and their sidekicks have escaped after 5 August 2024 and now that space has been picked by BNP leaders and activists. The law and order forces are aware of these circumstances but there is no remarkable action to detain extortionists or to save businessmen reportedly.

Traders in Gulistan are in the middle of a far more perilous situation than Karwan Bazar. Hawkers backed up by a political front that suddenly gained momentum since 5 August 2024 have occupied the sidewalks and some portions of the main streets. Pedestrians and transports face immense trouble for this reason. Motorist Shariful Islam said “The government has been overthrown and now there is a new government but nothing has changed in illegal encroachment on sidewalks and haphazard parking.” Saifur Rahman, who works for a private firm expressed exactly the same opinion.

Hawkers, pedestrians, transporters and businessmen were tormented by extortionists by the ousted Awami League stalwarts for 15 years and the same thing has been still going on at the hands of BNP clubbers, sufferers have told media outlets explicitly.