Sources in the C&F Agents' Association at Benapole said a rally of the five port users' associations was held in front of the Customs House yesterday. A protest procession was also brought out at the land port.

A third meeting of the customs authority and the leaders of the five port users' associations was also scheduled to be held at the Customs House yesterday afternoon, the previous two meetings on Saturday and Sunday having yielded no results.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Bangladesh Clearing and Forwarding Agents' Association held a meeting on Tuesday with its President Abul Fazal Talukdar in the chair at its Eskaton office in Dhaka.

Attended by the leaders of C&F agents' associations from Benapole, Chittagong and Mongla, the meeting discussed the ways of extending the strike to all the ports of the country.

Some traders at Benapole alleged that the strike at the Benapole land port was enforced due to the monetary losses of some big shots in the Benapole C&F Agents' Association.

These officials earned a huge amount of illegal money by depriving the government of revenue worth over Tk 300 crore during the tenure of Customs Commissioner Dr Rafiqul Islam, who was made OSD (officer on special duty) on July 13, 2005 on allegations of corruption. They could allegedly earn Tk 5 crore by bribing Rafiqul Islam Tk 5 lakh, the traders said.

After his transfer Acting Customs Commissioner Atiqur Rahman and Joint Customs Commissioner Hossain Ahmed took several measures to increase the revenue earning, which apparently opposed the interest of the C&F Agents Association big guns, the traders alleged.

A total of 32 days' work suspension was enforced at the Benapole land port during the last seven months.