Desk Report,
Tempo drivers and workers protest in Chittagong, sit on the road demanding an end to extortion
Drivers and workers have protested in the Shah Amanat Setu More area of Chittagong city against the extortion in the name of the Tempo Workers Union. They started the protest by staying at the bridge premises for half an hour around 4 pm today, Monday. During this time, they raised various slogans and demanded exemplary punishment for those involved in extortion for a long time.
Tempo drivers and workers protest in Chittagong, sit on the road demanding an end to extortion
40 to 50 workers participated in the protest. Most of them are tempo drivers. None of them hold any position in the union. Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Tayyab, Md. Emon and others were present there. They want the union committee to be abolished.
The drivers said, ‘Previous leaders and workers used to extort money from the drivers. They are still doing the same thing in the name of the union. We don’t want any leader. We will manage the tempos ourselves. No one dishonest will be given a chance here.’
It was learned from talking to the drivers that the route from Shah Amanat Setu More to Alkaran is known as route number 17 in the city. For a long time, extortion has been being collected on this route using the names of various political parties. They allege that once upon a time, extortion was collected by using the name of Awami League. Since August 5, 2024, a person named Jane Alam used to collect extortion using the name of BNP. Currently, a person named Md. Monir is collecting extortion. He introduces himself as the president of the workers’ union.
Driver Mohammad Ali, who participated in the protest, said that Md. Monir is forcibly collecting extortion from the drivers. If they do not pay the extortion, they are harassed in various ways. The drivers could not tolerate this and took to the streets.
Union president Md. Monir was called on his mobile phone regarding the protest, but he could not be reached.
According to information provided by local drivers and owners, about 200 tempos (locally known as Mahindra) ply on route 17. To operate these tempos, the owners have to take permission from the Chittagong Auto Tempo Workers’ Union. According to the drivers, about 24,000 taka is collected on this route every day. Which amounts to about 8 lakh 64 thousand taka per month and more than a crore taka per year.
The drivers say that this extortion ring has become more reckless due to the silence of the administration and the shelter of some influential people. They have urged the administration to take effective steps to stop this irregularity immediately.
