Extorting from Hawkers: DSCC files three cases against 81

Dhaka South City Corporation yesterday filed three cases against 81 people for allegedly extorting money from hawkers who set up shops on the footpaths in Gulistan and other areas in the city corporation.

An official of the DSCC's state department filed the cases with Paltan, Motijheel and Shahbagh police stations, said police and corporation officials.

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None of the accused was arrested as of filing of this report around 12:30am today.

Rafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Paltan Police Station, said Shamsul Alam filed a case with the police station, accusing 49 people of extorting money from hawkers.

The cases lodged with Motijheel and Shahbagh police stations accused 25 and seven people of the same offence.

Most of the accused are “linemen” who collect the extortion money from the hawkers on behalf of a vested quarter, said a DSCC official, wishing not to be named.

Some of those who are instigating hawkers to protest eviction drives against them were also made accused, he added.

The official said the cases were filed taking into consideration some lists of the offenders prepared by several hawkers' organisations and investigative reports published in different newspapers.

Rafiqul Islam, general secretary of Jatiya Hawkers' Federation, said they had long been demanding action against those “linemen”.

Each of such “linemen” collects Tk 50 to Tk 300 every day from a hawker on behalf of some “police officials, local goons and political leaders”, he claimed.

Despite repeated attempts, the authorities failed to evict hawkers from the city's footpaths, as they manage to continue their business by paying “extortion money", said a report published in this newspaper in October last year.

There are around 3.5 lakh shops on the city's footpaths, and the hawkers pay Tk 3 crore in “extortion money” a day, according to leaders of different hawkers' associations in the capital.

Since January 15, the DSCC has been conducting drives in Gulistan and its adjacent areas, including Purana Paltan, Dainik Bangla Mor and Motijheel areas, to keep footpaths free from hawkers.

Protesting the move, the hawkers staged demonstrations.