Extortion in transport sector changes hands from AL to BNP

The office of the Dhaka Road Transport and Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association in the capital’s Eskaton area is quite spacious and well decorated. The transport sector of the country used to be controlled from this office during the tenure of the recently ousted Awami League government. However, following the ouster of the Awami League government, the pro-BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) transport leaders took control of the office on 13 August.

Prothom Alo found that around Tk 20 billion is collected every year in the name of transport owners and workers associations. Tk 70 is collected from every bus openly every day. Besides, a huge amount of money used to be extorted on daily and monthly basis in the name of ‘gate pass’ or membership fee for the association. With the fall of the government, the control of extortion also changed hands.

Relevant sources say Dhaka South City Awami League vice president Khandaker Enayet Ullah used to control the Transport Owners Association across the country. Jatiya Party leader Mashiur Rahman alias Ranga was his assistant. Enayet left the country even before the fall of the government. Mashiur Rahman went into hiding.

Taking this advantage, several transport leaders led by Cumilla district BNP joint convener Saiful Islam Bhuiyan broke open the offices of the transport owners and workers in the capital’s Eskaton on 10 August. They took over the office on 13 August. After that, a 31-member convener committee led by Saiful was also formed.

Saiful Islam served as the general secretary of the Dhaka Road Transport Owners Association during the two terms of BNP government.

BNP standing committee member Mirza Abbas was the president in both terms. Sources say Mirza Abbas is backing them this time too. Saiful Islam is from the Eliotganj area of Cumilla. The name of his transport company is Eliotganj Express and Mirza Abbas had a transport company in Dhaka during the tenure of BNP and Jamaat led allied government named the Dhaka Paribahan.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Saiful Islam said they took over to re-establish order in the transport sector. They would put on an all-out effort to end the extortion culture. Speaking regarding the chances of Mirza Abbas being involved in the process, he said, Mirza Abbas is busy at the moment. He would serve as the advisor of the organisation.

Following the change in the control of the office and the leadership of the association, the bus services of Ena Paribahan, owned by Khandaker Enyetullah, have been shut down on the Dhaka-Mymensingh route. The company is under threat on other routes also.

Sources in the Transport Owners Association say buses owned by Saiful, Mymensingh Awami League (AL) leader Aminul Haque Shameem used to run on the Mymensingh route under the banner of Ena Paribahan. The buses are operating under the banner of United Paribahan. Besides, the control of the Sayedabad and Gabtoli bus terminal has changed hands. Mohakhali but the terminal is on the same track. The scenario is more or less the same everywhere.

Relevant sources say the Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association and the Dhaka Transport Owners Association have been operated from the same office for a long time.

The office of the Transport Owners Association was in the BRTC Bhaban in Motijheel in 2009, when the AL came to power. Around six years ago, a 8,000-square-feet office was established in Eskaton. Around Tk 150 million was spent for land purchase and decorations.

Apart from that, there is another Gabtoli terminal-based organisation named the Bangladesh Bus-truck Owners Association. Shyamoli Paribahan proprietor Ramesh Chandra Ghosh was the president of this organisation and Abu Raihan was the general secretary. They have not been coming to the office since the fall of the government. The office is now under the control of local BNP leader and Hanif Paribahan owner Kafil Uddin. However, former MP GM Siraj used to control the office when BNP was in power.

However, Kafil Uddin claimed he didn’t take over the office. The leaders are not coming. So the employees are running the association now.

Awami League presidium member and former minister Shahjahan Khan established absolute control over the Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation during the 15-year rule of his party. However, he and his close associates have not been coming to the head office of the organisation since the fall of the government.

In that chance, the pro-BNP transport leaders are taking control over different units of the organisation at terminal, district and upazila levels.

Already the pro-BNP activists have taken control of workers union offices, which were controlled by Shahjahan Khan, at the Sayedabad, Jaykali Mandir and Gabtoli bus terminals. Outside Dhaka, there have been changes in control in the two offices of the Bus and Truck Workers Union in Rajshahi.

Shahjahan Khan’s people have lost authority in Rangpur, Syedpur in Nilphamari, and Jamalpur too. The federation committee under the leadership of Shahjahan Khan also includes members of BNP, Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (BSD), Jatiya Party (JaPa) and other parties.

Incumbent executive president of the committee Rahim Bakhs, vice president Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas and joint general secretary Humayun Kabir Khan are BNP leaders. Besides, several influential leaders of the committee, including Kazi Motahar Hossain and Mokhlesur Rahman, are from the Awami League. And the general secretary of the committee, Osman Ali, is from the BSD.

Relevant sources say although there were representatives from all parties; the main control was in the hands of Shahjahan Khan. Late BNP leader Habibur Rahman Khan used to dominate the committee during the tenure of BNP-Jamaat alliance government. Now, Rahim Bakhs and Shimul Biswas will establish control over the committee. There are also chances of a BNP leader replacing Shahjahan Khan in the committee.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Shimul Biswas said, “Some new people appear in the committee with the change of the government. They leave as soon as the government leaves. There are stern directives from the BNP to stop politicising public organisations.”

Asked about his role in the federation, Shimul Biswas said he was not active in the committee. He was called only if there was any problem. He would think about his role once everything gets normal.

According to a report published by the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) on 5 March, the total amount of extortions collected from the private buses and minibuses across the country is Tk 10.59 billion each year. Ruling party activists, traffic and highway police, officials and employees of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authorities (BRTA), owners and workers association and representatives of city corporations or municipalities get a portion of this.

The research further shows 92 per cent of the big bus companies are run or owned by people affiliated with politics and 80 per cent of them are from the ruling party.

Prothom Alo investigations found that there are three specific ways to collect extortion in the transport sector – extortion for owner-workers associations, extortion paid to the owners association for route permit and extortion paid as the gate pass to ply vehicles inside Dhaka.

According to the BRTA, there are around 300,000 buses, mini-buses and covered vans in the country. The amount of extortions collected from these vehicles in the three ways mentioned above is at least Tk 18.85 billion.

There are a total of 249 registered transport workers associations in the country. All these are part of the Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation. Shahjahan Khan has been the main leader of this organisation for a long time. His family owns bus companies. His son Asibur Rahman Khan is the president of the Madaripur District Bus Owners Association.

JaPa leader Mashiur Rahman Ranga is the president of the Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association. AL leader Khandaker Enayet Ullah is the secretary general of the organisation. There are active owners associations in the bus and truck terminals in all 64 districts under the Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association.

In all, more than 300 committees collect extortions across the country. Besides, extortions are also collected from undeclared places such as ferry ghats and launch ghats.

Many of the ruling party MP and leaders were involved in transport business in Dhaka and other districts during the 15-year rule of the Awami League. They also lead different owners and workers associations.

The family of Shameem Osman of Narayanganj has a transport company named ‘Shital Paribahan’. Transport extortions in Narayanganj were completely under the control of this family.

Former MP Anwarul Azim, who was killed in last May, was the vice president of the Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association and general secretary of the Kaliganj Upazila Motor Owners Association. Former MP Abul Kalam Azad served as the president of the Gaibandha Truck Owners Association. Former MP Chhayanur Hossain is the organising secretary of the central Road Transport Owners Association.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, TIB executive director Iftekharuzzaman said, “The main purpose of political leaders taking over offices of the transport sector is to take control of extortion. And this extortion is the main reason behind the dilapidated state of the transport sector. Efforts to establish political domination right after the fall of the government go against the spirits of students and people who gave lives to oust the government. In the past we saw the transport sector leaders show an attitude as if they are more powerful than the government due to the culture of political domination in this sector. As a result, it was not possible to take effective action to quell the disorders in this sector.”

*This report appeared on the print and online versions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Ashish Basu