RAJUK fails to find policemen, falters on eviction drive in Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara

The capital city’s development authority RAJUK has failed to begin the eviction drive it had announced for residential areas in Dhaka.

RAJUK released a media statement on Saturday about the 21-day nonstop drive to evict illegal commercial entities, including restaurants, schools and hospitals scheduled to start on Sunday.

RAJUK Executive Magistrate Oliur Rahman had been assigned to lead the drive at Gulshan, Banani and Baridhara and Zakir Hossain at Uttara and Md Nasir Uddin at Dhanmondi.

None of them could start the drive as no policemen had arrived.

Uddin at 2:30pm said he had been waiting with other officials and workers with bulldozers since the morning, but was yet to start the drive.

Hossain at Uttara told bdnews24.com at 3:45pm that there was a lack of policemen after strengthening patrols following the Gulshan cafe siege.

“We may not get police every day, but expect to have them every one or two days,” he said.

Rahman said the drive at Gulshan and Banani would begin on Monday because Sunday was the weekly holiday for shops in the areas.

RAJUK officials said they had sent a letter to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner on July 18 seeking personnel for the drives.

Noor-e-Alam and Abu Bakar Siddique, the OCs of Dhanmondi and East Uttara police stations, respectively, said they knew nothing about the drives.

The Cabinet on Apr 4 set a six-month deadline for the removal of commercial outlets from residential plots and buildings.

On July 20, the government sent notices to around 13,000 commercial entities in Dhaka directing them to relocate.

The cafe attack also prompted the government decision to have illegal establishments, especially in the Gulshan diplomatic district, shut down.