Long-route buses operate by stealth in virus lockdown

Long-distance bus services are suspended amid the lockdown, but some transport operators are still selling tickets and carrying passengers to north or southwest of the country.

Transport workers said that buses used signs identifying the passengers as garment factory workers going to work in Aminbazar and Hemayetpur on the outskirts of Dhaka to sneak through police check posts with ordinary travellers in the first few days of the lockdown.

The police began barring transports from entering Savar on Thursday, forcing the buses to start the journey from Baipail or Chandra.

Aliul Islam, an engineer by profession, arrived at Shyamoli’s Rahbar Enterprise counter to try and catch a ride to Dinajpur, but the counter was closed.

One of the transport workers asked for his mobile number. He later got a call from a person who asked him to travel to Baipail in Ashulia and book his ticket by paying an amount in advance using mobile financial service.

Aliul followed the instructions and finally got his ticket, but not before shelling out Tk 1,200 in place of Tk 500.

The passengers on Friday were then taken to Chandra intersection in Gazipur on a microbus and waited until 9:30pm for the bus to arrive.

Aliul reached Dinajpur on Saturday afternoon. He said the service of the bus was poor although he was charged more than double for his trip. The police barricaded the bus in Tangail and they had to take an alternative route to Elenga intersection.

The Bangabandu Bridge was blocked all night. After the passengers who were waiting on the buses overnight caused a commotion, the authorities opened the bridge after 7am.

In Bogura and Gobindaganj, the transport workers “managed” the situation at check-posts.

While stopping for snack breaks on his way, Aliul said he noticed many buses heading to the northern districts, including Bogura, Rangpur and Kurigram. Many of the buses had started off from Chattogram and Cumilla, according to him.

Most of the counters in Gabtoli Bus Terminal were shut on Saturday afternoon but ticket sellers could be seen on the lookout for passengers nearby.

Apparently, they had tickets to all the routes north or southwest of the country. Like Aliul said, trips must be booked by making advance payment through mobile financial services and passengers were being charged more than double the regular fares for each ticket.

On how to travel to Kushtia, Jahangir Alam, a transport worker, said, “First you need to send some money over bKash in good faith and then we will take care of all you need to make the trip.”

He said passengers will have to send Tk 1,000 to book two seats.

MP Shahjahan Khan, president of Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation, said he did not know who were running buses in breach of the ban.

The police and administration officials were already there to look into the matter, he added.

Khandker Enayetullah, secretary general of the Bangladesh Bus Owners Association, said no buses were leaving the terminals.

A couple of buses might be starting off from different exit points but, he insisted, it should be the concern of the Highway Police and other law-enforcing agencies.