\\\'Zero tolerance\\\' against highway extortion in Eid

CHITTAGONG, July 2: Police will show 'zero tolerance' against harassment and extortion on the highways and roads during the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr.
They will stop harassment of drivers or extortion by police or other government agencies on Dhaka-Chittagong Highway to facilitate hassle-free travel of the home-bound passengers.
Trucks or covered vans, except those with emergency cargos, will also be banned on the highway on three days of the Eid festival - including the day before Eid and the day after - so that passengers do not face any hassle.
Chittagong Superintendent of Police (SP) AKM Hafiz Akhtar said these following a meeting with the transports owners and drivers at his office in the port city on Wednesday.
He also told the transport operators that the dilapidated Dhaka- Chittagong Highway would be repaired within next one week.
"The deplorable condition of the highway will be repaired in a week," he said after consultation with the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) engineers.
District police, highway police, metropolitan police, RHD engineers, and transport association leaders were present in the meeting.
The SP said there are allegations of extortion on the highway, and it increases further during the Eid festival.
"We will take stringent measures against those involved in such activities, be he or she a police or an extortionist."
He said a control room is opened at the Chittagong district police office. The aggrieved people, including the transport operators, can give a call to the control room phone to get remedies.
The transport owners said roads experience heavy pressure of passengers ahead of the Eid-ul Fitr. A section of police takes this opportunity for extortion in the name of checking transport documents.
The secretary of Truck, Covered Van Transport Owners Association said the four-lane extension of Dhaka-Chittagong Highway has turned deplorable after heavy shower over the past few days, causing great sufferings to travellers.
Innumerable potholes and ditches have surfaced in the Chittagong section of the highway, which has made plying vehicles difficult, with only a few days left ahead of the Eid-ul fitr.
The situation has worsened due to low quality bitumen work in nearly 70 kilometres of the Chittagong section. Many vehicles met with accidents over the last few days due to these potholes, he further said.
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