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Brokers engaged by AL men collect Teesta toll money

S Dilip Roy, Lalmonirhat
A gang of brokers allegedly engaged by a section of local ruling party men control toll collection from the vehicles crossing the Teesta Bridge in Cokunda union in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila, depriving the government of revenue worth around Tk 40 thousand daily for the last four months.
At least 2,000 motorcycles, 1200 'easy bikes' and 800 other three wheelers move on the bridge every day, paying Tk 10 as toll for the purpose but almost the full amount is pocketed by the brokers and a section of officials of the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) sources said.
However, the toll collected from heavy vehicles crossing the Teesta Bridge is duly deposited to the authorities concerned.
Meanwhile, at least eight people were injured in an hour-long clash between two groups of ruling Awami League and its associate organisations over taking control of the toll plaza on Wednesday night.
Police arrested five activists of Jubo League, Sramik League and Chhatra League, the youth, labour and student wings of AL, from the spot.
To disperse the clashing activists, police fired 47 rubber bullets, said officer in-charge of Lalmonirhat Sadar Police Station Mahfiizur Rahman, but he refused to confirm the names and identities of the injured men.
The arrested five AL men were identified as Jubo League activists Rasel Miah, 30, and Jony Islam, 23, Sramik League activists Shah Alam, 26, and Shariful Islam, 27, and Chhatra League activist Masum Miah, 20, all residents of Teesta village.
RHD officials in Lalmonirhat Sadar said the bidder who was given contract to pay Tk 5 crore and 17 lakh for collecting toll money from all the vehicles moving on the bridge in 2013 offered Tk 4 crore and 20 lakh for the same work this year.
The RHD authorities did not approve the low rate and their officials have been collecting toll money since April this year, they said.
Seeking anonymity, a RHD staffs responsible for toll collection at Teesta Bridge alleged that a broker gang engaged by local ruling party men is taking away the toll money collected from light vehicles, while the RHD staffs often remain helpless amid threat of physical assault.
Several locals, on the other hand, said the broker gang dared not create any disturbance when the bidder's men collected the toll money last year, but the gang became active after the RHD staff started collecting the toll.
They alleged collusion of a section of RHD officials who get a share of the embezzled money from the gang.
Admitting the problem due to disturbance by brokers, estimator of RHD Sahidul Islam said, "Now we are collecting toll of Tk 1 lakh and 20 thousand on an average daily from the vehicles moving on the bridge. We the RHD staff want relief from the complexity of toll collection from the Teesta Bridge."
Denying the allegation against RHD officials, RHD Executive Engineer Suruz Miah said, "The department is going to take final decision to select a bidder for collecting toll money at the Teesta Bridge, as RHD staffs are facing manifold problems due to disturbance by the brokers.”