Despite the presence of a dedicated River Police unit, extortion persists along the country’s inland waterways, leaving bulkhead owners and their staff vulnerable.

A complex web of illegal tolls and threats, involving both hooligans and allegedly sanctioned authorities, continues to plague the transport of goods, according to industry sources.

Along with the hooligans extorting from the goods-laden vessels, the leasees of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and Chhatak municipality are extorting money by overcharging the bulkheads in the name of toll, said sources.

The indifference of the BIWTA and the municipality to the matter is encouraging the leasees to take additional money in the name of toll, they added.

Md Saiful Islam, director (Marine Safety and Traffic Management) of the BIWTA, told the Daily Sun that they have information on the extortion.

“We have already sent letters to the authorities concerned to take actions against the extortion,” he said.

Oruail-Pakshimul Bulkhead Boat Owners’ Association in its pad provided a list of extortion collected from each bulkhead by different quarters from Sunamganj to Dhaka.

According to the list, Tk14,200 is taken from a bulkhead at Chhatak River Police Area. Of the amount, about Tk8,000 (in case of loading or unloading) is provided to the BIWTA, around Tk3,000 to Chhatak Municipality, Tk200 as Doara Bazar toll task, Tk500 as Doara Bazar mastani bhata (hooligan allowance), Tk500 to hizras (transgender people) of Chhatak, Tk500 to hizras of Ambari and Tk1,500 as Ambari mastani bhata.

When contacted, AKM Arif Uddin, director (traffic and port) of the BIWTA, told the Daily Sun that the BIWTA gives leases of its ghats and the leasees can take 25 paisa (Tk0.25) per cubic feet (CFT) of sand as toll, he said.

“The leasees take a toll but not extortion money. They will have to provide a token against the toll amount. There is nothing to do beyond the rule,” he said.

Sharbindu, secretary of Chhatak Municipality, told the Daily Sun that they gave lease to the leasees.

“Tk700 can be taken from each bulkhead as a toll of the municipality. If the leasees take an additional amount, it is illegal. On Thursday, the army personnel held a meeting with the leasees, vessels owners and staffers and warned of action against additional toll,” he said.

However, as per the list of the Oruail-Pakshimul Bulkhead Boat Owners’ Association, a bulkhead has to pay around Tk15,500 in the Tuker Bazar River Police area.

Of the money, Tk10,200 (in case of loading or unloading) is paid to Sunamganj Sadar BIWTA, Tk2,500 as Sunamganj sadar mastani bhata, Tk300 as Sunamganj Sadar hizra chanda (extortion money), Tk1,500 as Hallar Ghat mastani chanda and Tk1,000 as Mallicpur mastani chanda.

The organisation says that in the Lalpur River Police Area, bulkheads pay Tk1.20 as Jamalganj toll tax per CFT of sand or other things (in case of loading or unloading), Tk500 as BIWTA toll, Tk500 as Sachna (Lalpur) BIWTA toll, Tk400 as Dulupur hizra chanda and Tk500 as Maina mastani chanda.

In the Chamra Ghat River Police area, each bulkhead has to pay Tk2,500 as Chamra Ghat mastani bhata, Tk500 as Chamra Ghat hizra bhata and Tk400 as Singpur hizra chanda.

In the Narayanganj River Police area, bulkheads have to pay around Tk8,000 (in case of load or unload) as toll of Meghna Ghat BIWTA,  Tk1,500 as Boiddar Bazar mastani bhata,  Tk8,000 (in case of load)  as the toll to Siddhirganj BIWTA, and Tk8,000 and Tk2,000 as Narayanganj Sadar mastani bhata.

In Dhaka River Police area, they pay Tk2,000 as Pagla mastani bhata, Tk1,500 as Sadarghat mastani bhata,  Tk3,000 as Basila (Kamrangirchar) mastani bhata and Tk2,000 as Dipnagar mastani bhata.

Abdul Kuddus and Mohammad Masud, sukanis (staffers) of two bulkheads, told the Daily Sun that each bulkhead has to pay at least Tk25,000-30,000 from Sunamganj to Dhaka as extortion money along with the tolls of the BIWTA and the municipality.

They said that the staffers of the vessels are tortured if the extortion money is not paid to the extortionists.

Kuddus added that around Tk50,000 has to be paid to extortionists from Sunamganj to Chattogram with the toll of the BIWTA and others.

President of Bangladesh Bulkhead Boat Owners’ Association Mohammad Tofazzal Hossain Badal told the Daily Sun that the BIWTA is extorting in the name of toll.

On the River Police, he said that a few days back, the extortionists at Boiddar Bazar area paid around Tk30,000 to the River Police unit concerned per day and they extorted thousands of taka from the bulkheads in the area.

“I complained to the additional IGP of the River Police on the matter. Now, the problem has been solved to a large extent, but not completely,” he said.

Abdul Khalek, president of Brahmanbaria Water Vessel Owners’ Association, told the Daily Sun that he has recently complained to the deputy inspector general of police concerned that hooligans through trawlers are extorting from bulkheads at Jamalganj area in Sunamganj.

When contacted, Kusum Dewan, additional inspector general and the chief of the River Police, told the Daily Sun that the extortion has been stopped.