Small vehicles illegally picking up passengers on the city’s streets have occasioned a toll bonanza for the traffic police, who are allegedly making millions by permitting operation of old and unlicensed vehicles in exchange for bribe money.
The Dhaka Tribune recently interviewed a number of owners and drivers of such vehicles and found evidence of a pseudo-legal arrangement allowing the illegal operation of vehicles.
The auto-rickshaws that are marked only for private use are reportedly the favourite targets for toll collection, as many of the owners of these vehicles opt to use the auto-rickshaws commercially.
Seeking anonymity, an auto-rickshaw owner said the traffic sergeants mainly collected tolls for operating the vehicles at 16 areas.
“For operating at each area, he [the owner] has to give Tk500 monthly. The money increases with parameter,” said the owner who has to pay bribe to police in seven areas.
He said the roads from Mirpur 14 to Mirpur technical intersection were considered as a toll area where a traffic sergeant collected money.
“Like that, Gabtoli-Beribadh-Kalyanpur is a route. The other routes are Uttara-Airport-Rampura Bridge, Gulashan 1, 2-Kakoli-Banani, from Mohakhali to Karwan Bazar, from Kakrail to Gulistan, from Gulistan to Jatrabari-Wari-Postogola Bridge, from Dhanmondi 27 to Kolabagan-Lab Aid intersection,” he explained.
Sergeants also reportedly kept a list of vehicles and the owners’ phone numbers to demand money at the end of every month.
“If any sergeant stops the vehicle in any area, he first asks the driver the name of the sergeant to whom the owner has given the money. The driver needs to mention the police official’s name to be allowed to pass,” the auto-rickshaw owner said.
Sometimes, the law enforcers phoned the bribe-taker to confirm the matter.
Asked what happened if the money was not given, he said the police sent the vehicle directly to the dump yard and the owner then had to pay Tk3,500 to bring back the vehicle.
Contacted, Bangladesh Road Transport Authority Director (Engineering) Saiful Haque said the BRTA gave license to some 400 privately owned auto-rickshaws until 2010, while only 22 private auto-rickshaws currently ran on the road legally.
“The rest are registered under Dhaka district and are not supposed to run on city roads,” he said.
The owners said many people registered their auto-rickshaws as private vehicles with the district authority, after the BRTA stopped registering commercial auto-rickshaws in 2005.
Meanwhile, the city’s human haulers have also become another source of money for the traffic police.
“The police station takes Tk40,000 for parking space on a monthly basis and Tk120-160 from each of the human hauler every day,” said a human hauler driver at Banglabazar human hauler stand.
Out of over a hundred human haulers at the stand, Jatrabari-bound vehicles give police Tk120 per day, Postagola-bound vehicle Tk80 and Gulistan-bound vehicle Tk140.
A committee which supervised the monetary issues with police and the local political leaders gave Kotowali police station Tk40,000 for the parking space, said the committee’s Secretary Faruque.
However, the police station’s Officer-in-Charge Abdus Salam denied the allegation and said he will check if the stand was illegal.
There are more than 30 human hauler stands in this metropolitan from where police, local goons and party leaders allegedly extract money.
Modified battery-run rickshaw and auto-rickshaws are also not free from the bribery demands, with auto-rickshaws requiring a daily fee of Tk100 and the rickshaws having to pay Tk50-70.
The garages for these vehicles also need to pay the nearby police station Tk500 each month.
Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Hassan Mahmood Khandker said they were looking into the issue and would take action if any specific proof was found against any police official.
