‘Aratdars’ illegally collect no less than Tk 40 lakh a day from Karwan Bazar, Jatrabari, Shyambazar; vegetable prices go at least 5pc up for extortion
Shaheen Mollah and Najmul Alam Nobin
Greengrocers have to pay illegal toll to Aratdars in the city’s three premier kitchen markets and, in turn, they force consumers to pay for that.
The crooked practice was absent for over a year due to market monitoring by a Bangladesh Rifles-led taskforce. It began again with the BDR personnel pulling out of the markets last September.
According to an estimate by The Daily Star based on information gleaned recently from market sources, Aratdars (warehouse owners) at Karwan Bazar, Jatrabari and Shyambazar kitchen markets collect over Tk 40 lakh a day in toll from the retail traders in fruit and vegetables.
Officials of Dhaka City Corporation (DCC), which owns the markets, said the warehouse operators’ taking money from retailers is illegal. It is extortion, they added.
Usually, a wholesaler brings in goods from outside the capital and stores those in the warehouses. Apparently, he has nothing to do with the toll popularly known as Koyeli. The extras that a retailer pays go to the Aratdars’ purse.
The extortion in the name of toll collection stopped in September 2007 as the government began strict monitoring of the markets. But it started again a day after Eid-ul-Fitr last year.
Owners of fruit warehouse at Karwan Bazar started charging traders again on October 3 last year and were joined by those in Jatrabari market a day later.
The market monitoring taskforce comprising Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), police and BDR personnel was withdrawn on September 30.
Col Mujibul Haque, member of the taskforce and commander of BDR’s Dal Bhat programme, told The Daily Star that they detected Koyeli a few days after their deployment at markets.
He said as long as they were keeping watch on the markets, the Aratdars could not realise toll from the retail traders.
Retailers said during the 13 months the difference between wholesale and retail prices was small, but the gap widened after Eid-ul-Fitr last year.
A vegetables trader at Hatirpul kitchen market said he has to charge a customer an additional Tk 3-4 on a cauliflower for the Koyeli system.
Hasan, a shop-owner at Shanir Akhra kitchen market, said for vegetables worth around Tk 7,000, he has to spend around Tk 350 in Koyeli. And he can’t help making his customers pay for the extras.
Talking to The Daily Star correspondents, retailers at Karwan Bazar, Jatrabari, Shyambazar, and other markets complained about having to pay the illegal toll.
Sources said goods worth around Tk 8 crore are traded every day at Karwan Bazar and Jatrabari markets.
Fruit and vegetables valued between Tk 40,000 and Tk 5 lakh are sold a day at each of around 600 small and large warehouses at Karwan Bazar.
Each of 410 warehouses at Jatrabari market sees sale of produce worth between Tk 20,000 and Tk 1 lakh a day.
Most of the city dwellers depend on these three markets for fruit and vegetables. Besides, these markets supply greengrocery to at least 20 districts.
There are however a few warehouses where no Koyeli is taken.
For most of the vegetables, Aratdars at Karwan Bazar and Jatrabari kitchen markets take 10 percent commission from a retailer’s purchase, said sources.
For some vegetables, the Koyeli is 6.25 percent, while for a few others the charge comes at Tk 2 for sale of every 5 kg of goods sold.
Retailers said on an average they have to pay toll amounting to five percent on what they pay to wholesalers.
At Shyambazar, only a few vegetables warehouse operators take toll from buyers. However, the fruit store operators there take up to 10 percent of the wholesale price in Koyeli.
Haggling between retailers and Aratdars over Koyeli is an everyday scene at the markets. The retailers even brought out processions in October last year against the toll collection.
Aratdars at Karwan Bazar, Jatrabari and Shyambazar said they had the Koyeli system since the markets opened. They said the taskforce’s stopping Koyeli collection during the Ramadan in 2007 had cost them dearly.
They claimed they have resumed it for the sake of their survival.
Abdul Latif Mia, president of Karwan Bazar Arat Bhaban, told The Daily Star that they do not take toll from retail buyers. However, he said, they charge the wholesalers a certain amount they are entitled to.
He added that the other store operators do take toll from retailers illegally.
Speaking to The Daily Star in return for anonymity, an official of DCC market circle said, “We are too short of manpower to try to stop the unfair toll collection. However, we can surely make a difference if the law enforcers come to our aid.”
Asked if they had contacted police or Rab, he said they would formally ask for help after discussing the matters with DCC mayor and other high-ups.
In November and December, a group of retailers from across kitchen markets in the city met the DCC officials concerned and urged them to put an end to extortion. Though the officials assured them of immediate measures, there have not been any tangible signs yet to that end.
Interestingly, Rab officials and police said they were not aware that warehouse operators have been extorting money from the retailers. They said they would take action against those involved in the illegal practice.
Courtesy: thedailystar.net
