Extortion from footpaths
Staff Reporter :
Small traders and hawkers of the city’s footpaths face a surge in extortion demanded by the police, local influential political leaders, musclemen, and security guards performing duties near the vendors’ floating shops.
Sources said that the vendors, especially fish, fruits, vegetables, garments clothes and food traders, usually set up their shops occupying footpaths, part of city streets or near the kitchen markets illegally. Police, political leaders and the security guards take it as an opportunity to collect toll from the small traders on a regular basis. They collect thousands of taka every day.
Although there is no specific statistics on how many small traders set up their makeshift shops on the streets or besides kitchen markets, their number is said to be over 50,000.
Extortion at Farmgate, Motijheel, Khilgoan, Paltan, Baitul Mokarram Mosque area, Shahbagh, Katabon, Karwan Bazar, New Market, Chandrima Supermarket, Dhanmandi, Old Dhaka, Mirpur, Uttara and Gulshan has been going on unabated.
Some vendors said, they have to pay on daily, weekly or monthly basis to run their shops on the footpaths.
They allege that police usually collect toll in the name of officers, especially officer-in-charge (OC), patrol inspector (PI) and traffic inspector (TI), of their respective areas.
The activists of the ruling party and its associate bodies usually collect toll on weekly and monthly basis. The small traders also have to pay toll to the political leaders on many occasions.
“I have already paid Tk 40 to two police patrol teams. Normally this figure goes up to Tk 100 to Tk 120 by evening. If you are locked in an argument with police, you will have to pay double eventually. The policemen do not like haggling,” said a vendor at Farmgate seeking anonymity. Policemen beat vendors if they fail to pay them tolls.
Each of about 500 vendors in the area has to pay Tk 60 to Tk 100 every day to several teams of Tejgaon and Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police.A floating vendor of Mirpur-12 said that he set up his small mobile shop to sell ‘kabab’ in the afternoon. “For this, I have to pay Tk 3,000 to a local political activist every month. Besides, I have to pay Tk 20 to police every day,” he alleged. Another trader, who sells fruits at Gulshan-2, said, he has to pay Tk 20 every day to police. Another roadside shop owner at Uttara said, he has to pay around TK 200-300 to police every week to continue his business. “I can’t avoid it, as I have to run my family with the earnings that come from this shop. We live under constant stress,” he said.
Small traders have to pay Tk 10,000-100,000 as ‘salami’ to the local influential political leaders and police for setting up their makeshift shops on footpaths in the Uttara area, especially on footpaths near Maskat Plaza of Rabindra Sarani of Azampur. They have to pay Tk 100-300 a day regularly, alleged a local trader of the area.
Small traders and hawkers of the city’s footpaths face a surge in extortion demanded by the police, local influential political leaders, musclemen, and security guards performing duties near the vendors’ floating shops.
Sources said that the vendors, especially fish, fruits, vegetables, garments clothes and food traders, usually set up their shops occupying footpaths, part of city streets or near the kitchen markets illegally. Police, political leaders and the security guards take it as an opportunity to collect toll from the small traders on a regular basis. They collect thousands of taka every day.
Although there is no specific statistics on how many small traders set up their makeshift shops on the streets or besides kitchen markets, their number is said to be over 50,000.
Extortion at Farmgate, Motijheel, Khilgoan, Paltan, Baitul Mokarram Mosque area, Shahbagh, Katabon, Karwan Bazar, New Market, Chandrima Supermarket, Dhanmandi, Old Dhaka, Mirpur, Uttara and Gulshan has been going on unabated.
Some vendors said, they have to pay on daily, weekly or monthly basis to run their shops on the footpaths.
They allege that police usually collect toll in the name of officers, especially officer-in-charge (OC), patrol inspector (PI) and traffic inspector (TI), of their respective areas.
The activists of the ruling party and its associate bodies usually collect toll on weekly and monthly basis. The small traders also have to pay toll to the political leaders on many occasions.
“I have already paid Tk 40 to two police patrol teams. Normally this figure goes up to Tk 100 to Tk 120 by evening. If you are locked in an argument with police, you will have to pay double eventually. The policemen do not like haggling,” said a vendor at Farmgate seeking anonymity. Policemen beat vendors if they fail to pay them tolls.
Each of about 500 vendors in the area has to pay Tk 60 to Tk 100 every day to several teams of Tejgaon and Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police.A floating vendor of Mirpur-12 said that he set up his small mobile shop to sell ‘kabab’ in the afternoon. “For this, I have to pay Tk 3,000 to a local political activist every month. Besides, I have to pay Tk 20 to police every day,” he alleged. Another trader, who sells fruits at Gulshan-2, said, he has to pay Tk 20 every day to police. Another roadside shop owner at Uttara said, he has to pay around TK 200-300 to police every week to continue his business. “I can’t avoid it, as I have to run my family with the earnings that come from this shop. We live under constant stress,” he said.
Small traders have to pay Tk 10,000-100,000 as ‘salami’ to the local influential political leaders and police for setting up their makeshift shops on footpaths in the Uttara area, especially on footpaths near Maskat Plaza of Rabindra Sarani of Azampur. They have to pay Tk 100-300 a day regularly, alleged a local trader of the area.
