12 thousand crore extortion led by Shajahan Khan

Shajahan Khan, a member of the presidium of Awami League and a former minister of shipping, is an influential minister in the dictatorship Sheikh Hasina's government. Under his leadership, about 12 thousand crore rupees have been extorted in the transport sector in the last few years. Meanwhile, this extortion has also been legalized by formulating the guidelines regarding 'Organization Management Expenses in Road Transport'. He was arrested last Thursday (September 5) from Dhanmondi area in a murder case. He is now in remand.

He was the minister and also the president of Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation. So he had absolute dominance in this sector. There was a huge Mastan army. His forces carried out his orders to the letter. It is alleged that Shajahan Khan's people have extorted 12 thousand crore rupees in the transport sector from 2009 to 2020. Out of this, more than 6 thousand crores of rupees have been extorted under his umbrella in the last 4 years. After Corona, this extortion was given legality by formulating guidelines regarding 'organisation management expenses in road transport' in the last 4 years.

There are allegations that Shajahan Khan has institutionalized road extortion. Contributions have been collected through 249 labor unions belonging to Road Transport Workers Federation. A large part of it regularly went into Shahjahan Khan's pocket.

In the past, the non-partisan caretaker government of BNP called for a large-scale movement on other demands, and the road traffic was stopped. This Shajahan Khan was also behind it. He was also one of the obstacles to enacting the Road Transport Act by providing strict punishments to ensure road safety.

Meanwhile, according to the information given in the election affidavit, the annual income of Shajahan Khan in 2008 was 6 lakh 85 thousand taka. Which in 2024 has become 2 crore 21 lakh taka. During this time his income increased almost 32 times.

In this regard, transport workers leader Mohammad Hanif Khokon said that Shajahan Khan was the leader of reckless extortion in the transport sector without any regard for the law. One-fifth of the contributions collected at various terminals and upazila levels went to the name of Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation. Everything in this federation is going on at the behest of Shahjahan Khan. From 2009 to 2020, Shahjahan Khan's people have extorted 12 thousand crore rupees in the transport sector.

Bangladesh /RH