In past years, as soon as a cattle truck came into view, stick-wielding gangs would come running on one side and police would carry out their own quieter extortion on the other. Truck drivers and cattle traders were exasperated by payments demanded at stop after stop on the highway every year. This time the picture has changed: the stick-wielding gangs are gone, and so is extortion by law enforcers.

No extortion was seen on the highway on the way to Dhaka in cattle trucks from the northern districts of Nilphamari and Naogaon. However, money is still being collected regularly in the northern districts in the name of truck workers and owners, and there were also attempts at quieter extortion.

Extortion takes place every year at Eid-ul-Azha in all the northern districts. On the way to Dhaka, trucks from the 16 northern districts have to pay at least 22 places. Trucks leaving Chapainawabganj, Rajshahi, Naogaon and Joypurhat had to pay at at least seven places.

Cattle trucks from the eight districts of Rangpur division have to pay at at least 13 places on the way to Dhaka, all on the highway itself. Those collecting include stick-wielding gangs wearing red ribbons on their heads, transport workers, activists of ruling party affiliates, local strongmen and three tiers of police. Trucks are stopped at various points and forced to pay whatever is demanded.

The main collection points include the Saidpur Golchattar roundabout, the Dinajpur terminal area, Rangpur's Modern Mor, the Rangpur terminal area, Gobindaganj and Fansitala in Gaibandha, Mokamtala, Mahasthan, Matidali, Charmatha, Banani and Sherpur in Bogura, Niamatpur in Naogaon, Cordar Mor in Sirajganj, the west and east ends of Bangabandhu Bridge, and the Elangi area of Tangail. The amount varies from place to place, Tk 50 in some and Tk 500 in others. On that basis, a cattle truck from the northern districts has to pay at least Tk 15,000 to reach Dhaka.

This information came from several cattle traders and truck drivers. They also said that this time there is no roadside extortion apart from collections in the name of truck owners' and workers' organisations. Instead, at the Tinmatha Mor in Gobindaganj, Gaibandha, police have set up a camp and are using loudspeakers to tell cattle truck drivers not to pay anyone.

Leaders of the transport owners' association, the transport workers' federation and the bus-truck owners' association recently met an additional IGP in Bogura to stop the extortion and asked for action. Police then began a drive against extortion from 1 June.

Even so, some isolated extortion continues. At the Saidpur WAPDA Golchattar, beside the Rangpur bus terminal, at Charmatha Bhaber Bazar in Bogura and at Niamatpur in Naogaon, some outside youths posing as workers are stopping trucks and collecting money.

Transport organisation leaders said no illegal money may be collected on roads, highways, bus or truck terminals or anywhere else. Owners' and workers' organisations may collect their dues only from their own offices, and no district or upazila branch or sub-committee may collect money on roads or highways.

Shahjalal, a cattle trader from Munshiganj sitting in a truck, has been in the business for 18 years. Because cattle are relatively cheaper in the districts of Rangpur division, he buys cattle from markets and small traders in the region and takes them to Dhaka and Chattogram.

He said there has been no hassle with extortion this year. Every year, he said, police at three levels, the police station, highway police and traffic police, had to be paid at at least nine places between the markets of the Rangpur region and Dhaka. Truck owners' and workers' organisations and various ruling party organisations also had to be paid. Paying nearly Tk 15,000 per truck at 13 places along the way left little profit, and this year he feels much more at ease.

Hafizur Rahman, president of the Rangpur district truck workers' union, said Tk 30 per truck is taken for the transport workers' welfare fund, from all trucks and not only cattle trucks.

Mozammel Haque, the highway police DIG in charge of Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions, said police from 15 highway police stations along the highway have been deployed and are warning drivers by loudspeaker. Several mobile teams are ready for operations in any situation, and a list has been drawn up identifying those who usually carry out extortion on the highway.

Hasanul Kabir, joint secretary of the truck and covered van owners' association, said extortion from goods trucks has fallen considerably from before. Previously a vehicle had to pay at 10 to 12 places to get from Rangpur to Dhaka.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.