Editorial
Extortion hindering business
Urgent action needed
Despite government's claim that the law and order is now in a better shape, situation on the ground seems to be otherwise. The way hoodlums terrorised the Jatrabari area of the city in broad daylight on Monday by carrying out armed attack on a gas station and shooting an on-duty member of Ansar to death is an instance of where things have gone wrong.
The irony is the ansar personnel in hot pursuit of the hoodlums, who hurled cocktails and fired indiscriminately at the scene of crime, were hardly a match for the well-armed gangsters. Surprisingly, despite alerting police of the existing threats, only three ill-equipped ansars were deployed to ensure security of the gas station at such a busy intersection of the city.
In fact, the Jatrabari incident of Monday is not just an isolated one. Rather it is the tip of the iceberg insofar as criminality in the capital city is concerned. The criminal trade of extortion is now rampant especially in the older part of the city. The business people are so helpless against the tyranny of the extortionists that they dare not report to the police for fear reprisals. Shockingly, even cops allegedly advise the targeted business people to settle the matter with the criminals.
It cannot be gainsaid that extortion in such a wide scale is a serious impediment to smooth functioning of trade and commerce. And the business people who fall victim to such criminal extortion are forced to either count loss or resort to marking up the prices of their goods and services to offset the loss. Needless to say, the ubiquitous parasites find more pliant victims among the traders in the kitchen market.
The government should pay immediate attention to this particular form of crime that is causing business to suffer and consumers to pay through their noses. And it is not only business, it is also inextricably linked to social peace and citizens' security. Overall, it is a serious law and order issue.
The government's law-enforcement agencies must remain above corruption and act decisively to combat the menace.
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