Several thousand offices, clubs and makeshift election camps constructed illegally across the capital under the banner of political parties still remain intact despite allegations that those are breeding grounds for crime.

Law enforcers have knocked down illegal roadside shops and structures during their ongoing eviction drive, but they overlooked such clubs and camps constructed on sidewalks, by the sides of roads and on open spaces not designated for them, sources said.

Clubs and camps under political parties' banners mushroomed across the city in the run-up to the cancelled national elections slated

for January 22. These structures have seriously impeded pedestrians and vehicles.

The clubs are mostly visible at busy business places in the city where rates of extortion and toll collection are high.

Officials at the Estate Department of Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) could not provide any specific figure of how many such illegally built clubs existed, but estimated that there are several thousand such structures in the 100 wards of DCC.

City residents complained that the clubs harbour local criminals -especially criminals having links with BNP and Awami League (AL).

A number of city residents alleged that criminals associated with these clubs extort money from

local businesses and city dwellers. Club leaders also make enormous amounts of money by getting people out of police custody, using their political influence.

Leaders of the clubs are selected in accordance with the wishes of local criminals. The criteria for selection have more to do with the individual's ability to extort money rather than their political activities.

Pursuit of supremacy over the clubs by political leaders has led to many killings. For example, in the past decade, in Karwan Bazar, Tejgaon in the city, around 20 political activists and listed criminals have died in such disputes.

The victims include Rana, the then convener of Jatiya Tarun Party, the youth wing of Jatiya Party (E), Azad and Julhas of the same party, Abdul Khaleq, Delwar Hossain Dilu and Abu Hanif of AL's front organisations and Gazi Abbas, Nada Faruq and Lablu of BNP's front organisations, said sources.

Visiting Karwan Bazar wholesale market yesterday, where Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) has been carrying out an eviction drive for a few days now, more than 20 illegally constructed clubs were found.

The clubs in Karwan Bazar control the area around them and collect tolls from traders who sit nearby.

However since the eviction drive had begun a number of election camps and social clubs in different parts of the city were torn down by the patrons themselves or by the law enforcement agencies.

In the Chankharpul area, the president of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) unit of BNP constructed a temporary election camp and a hotel on the DMCH premises without any permission from the authorities. He also illegally took over more than 100 shops built by DCC and has been renting them out to unauthorised businesses.

Local sources said he shares the rentals collected from those shops with fellow party leaders, activists and his political godfather.

Director General of Rab SM Mizanur Rahman admitted that such clubs are involved in different criminal activities and said," Such clubs will be shut down soon."

However, he said it is not possible to evict all illegal structures in one go.

Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) ABM Bazlur Rahman said within a day or two he will ask the officers-in-charge (OCs) of all the police stations under DMP to prepare a list of such illegally built clubs and then launch an all out drive to evict them.