Extortionists and robbers are on the prowl again amid an increase in sale and supply of cattle to the port city from different districts as demands for the sacrificial animal are growing with Eid-ul-Azha getting nearer.
Both cattle traders and suppliers alleged that besides extorting cattle traders, extortionists waylay port city-bound cattle-loaded trucks on roads and highways and forcibly take their vehicles to makeshift cattle markets as per choice of the miscreants and force them to sell their animals at those markets depriving them of their rights to sell the animals at markets of their own choice.
Apart from that, robbers waylay the cattle-loaded trucks in city streets and on the highways and take away the sacrificial animals from the traders at gun point, the traders said, adding that the bandits kill the traders and drivers of the trucks if they decline to stop the vehicle and refuse to go to destinations of the bandits' choice.
Locals and traders said that suspected robbers shot dead the driver of a cattle-loaded truck in Sitakunda area on Friday morning as the victim declined to divert his truck to destination selected by the miscreants.
Police identified the victim as Abdur Rahman, son of Bashir Meah of Jashore district.
Officer in Charge (OC) (Investigation) of Sitakunda police station Sumon Bonik said suspected robbers killed him with at 4:00am today with an apparent motif to loot cattle from his truck. "However, the murder is under investigation and the motif of the crime would be clear after investigation," he added.
Talking with The Financial Express, some cattle traders alleged that they cannot take cattle to markets as per their own selection. They divert the cattle-loaded vahicles under duress to places as per wish of the robbers, they said.
"Lease-holders of cattle markets take our cattle to their markets or haats and either take away the sacrificial animals at gun point or force us to sell those to their own haats," the traders said.
"The lease-holders (of cattle markets) are using their cadres to either loot our cattle or make us sell the animals to them by force," alleged a cattle trader from a northern district.
"Cattle traders who came from different areas of the country, particularly from North Bengal, cannot not go to markets selected by themselves, rather they are compelled to take their animals to haats chosen by the lease-hoders' cadres," said another cattle trader.
Kamal Uddin, a cattle-trader from North Bengal who came to the port city with 60 cattle said, "The cadres compelled me to stay overnight at Pahartoli. Even, the cadres turned down a request I made to them multiple times last night to allow me to send a few animals from the 60 cattle heads to a market of my own choice," he said with a frail voice as he was not allowed to sleep at night.
"Even, the police is involved with the extortion. The law enforcers also take bribes from cattle traders. Cops do not let cattle traders enter the city with their animals as long as they are not bribed," said the cattle trader.
A section of police are allegedly taking bribes from the city-bound cattle traders despite the declaration of zero tolerance to extortion or bribery by members of the law enforcement agency made by the Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP) and the district administration recently.
Traders said each cattle traders have to pay more than Tk 1,000 to cadres of cattle market lease-holders before entering a market. It is further alleged that a section of cops also collect extortion money on behalf of the cadres and lease-holders of the markets from the traders.
Abul Kalam, another cattle trader, said that he came to Chattogram from another district with 100 cattle to sell the animals in the port city. But, he had to pay more than Tk 10,000 as extortion money to the cadres on his way to the city, he alleged. Besides, he had to pay an additional amount of money as bribes to on-duty police persons for parking his cattle-laden truck near a cattle market and landing his animals at the market for sale.
When contacted, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Chattogram Muhammed Mominur Rahman said, "The cattle traders as well as buyers must follow the health guidelines at cattle markets. Administration will strictly enforce health rules at every cattle market in the current year."
The authority has given permission to set up only three temporary cattle markets under 17 conditions in the city area while 200 in outskirts and rural areas of the district. The temporary cattle markets started selling after relaxing the hard lockdown by the government.
Besides, around five hundred cattle markets, including regular and temporary ones, have been set up in 14 upazila of the district ahead of Eid-ul-Azha. Around 200 regular cattle traders supply cattle to these markets.
nazim07@yahoo.com