Extortionists feast on Mirpur footpaths

An estimated Tk 50 to 60 lakh is extorted monthly from street vendors at Mirpur-10 roundabout and adjoining places, and the control over the easy money sometimes leads to clashes among the beneficiaries.

Local groups linked to the ruling Awami League pocket the money and share it with some unscrupulous policemen, said a number of vendors and local sources. 

The vendors said over a thousand of them operate in Mirpur-10 and each of them has to pay between Tk 100 and Tk 400 to extortionists, depending on the size of their makeshift shops.

Several groups carry out extortion on footpaths in the area through some designated persons who are known as “linemen”, they added.

On Monday, two groups of alleged Jubo League men, fought over the collection of the extortion money, leaving one killed and two others injured.

The clash ensued during a meeting between the two groups, each having eight to 10 members, to demarcate respective territory of extortion in Mirpur-10, said police and locals.

Roman, 32, was stabbed to death while two youths named Al Amin and Saiful sustained stab injuries during the incident.

Roman was a Jubo League activist and he was supposed to get a post in Ward 6 unit of the organisation when its new committee would be formed, his brother Firoz Shahi said yesterday.

Talking to over a dozen vendors in the area, it is learnt that Saiful had been a CD (compact disk) vendor for years.

In recent times, he became influential and started to take control over the extortion from vendors on the sidewalk beside Mirpur Fire Service Station.

He developed intimacy with some ruling party men and started attending meetings of Jubo League, the vendors told The Daily Star, wishing anonymity.

His rise irked the group led by Dulal, a ward-level Jubo League activist, leading to clashes at least thrice in recent months, they added.

Dulal could not be reached and police say they are trying to catch him.

Saiful, now admitted to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedic Rehabilitation, owns four shops which are run by his employees, local sources say.

Mohammad Rubel, one of such employees, admitted that Saiful developed a row with another group over control of the footpath by the fire station.

Ahead of the December 30 polls, another clash broke out over the control of the extortion between Saiful's men and his rivals, leaving five to six injured.

Arif Chowdhury, president of Jatiya Hawkers Federation, said all over the city, hawkers are forced to pay extortionists and the situation in Mirpur is no different.

In Mirpur area, there are a little over 5,000 vendors and in Mirpur-10, the number is around 1,000, he mentions.

“Each of the hawkers has to pay extortion money ranging from Tk 100 to Tk 400, subject to the size of the makeshift shop,” Arif told The Daily Star.

“Designated linemen collect the tolls every day, and the money is shared among local criminals, local political party leaders and activists and a section of local law enforcers.”

During a visit to the area yesterday, The Daily Star found illegal makeshift shops on the sidewalks forcing pedestrians to walk on the street risking accidents.

At least a dozen vendors told this paper that the extortion was still going on even after the clash on Monday and mostly Jubo league men are involved in it.  

However, Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil, president of Dhaka city (North) Jubo League, said that none of those involved in the clash held any post in the associate body of the Awami League.

About taking control of footpaths in Mirpur by Jubo League men, Mainul said he didn't know about any such incident.

'DECADES-LONG PRACTICE'

Syed Mamun Mostafa, assistant commissioner (Mirpur zone) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said they came to know about illegal toll collection after Monday's clash.

The officer claimed he is not aware that police get a share of the money.

None has been detained over the killing.

A mid-ranking officer of the DMP admitted that extortion from the roadside vendors goes on unabated in Mirpur and some politicians and policemen are involved in the process.  

“On the one hand, political party men and police take money from the vendors, in many cases shop keepers also rent out spaces in front of their own shops,” he said.

“This is a decades-long practice.”

The police officer said they sometimes take steps to free the footpaths but the process is halted due to phone calls from some “influential quarters”.

The officer said they have already decided to take steps concerning the footpaths in Mirpur as an unexpected incident has taken place there.

Talking to this newspaper yesterday, Deputy Commissioner of DMP's Mirpur Division Masud Ahmed said, “We will take all legal measures upon investigating Monday's incident.”

He said there will not be a permanent solution until hawkers are rehabilitated. “So, we will try to keep the problem at tolerable level.”

He added they will try their best to stop the goons who extort from roadside vendors.