Local political persons and ward councillors are directly involved in running business by grabbing footpaths in Bangladesh capital Dhaka, said a home ministry affidavit submitted to the High Court on Monday.
The ministry made this disclosure after investigating the matter by a five-member committee headed by additional secretary Moloy Chowdhury.
The committee was formed on May 21, 2023 as per the court鈥檚 previous directive issued on November 21, 2022, responding to a writ petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh.
The petition alleged that free movement of commuters were hindered to earn hundreds of crore money by a quarter of dishonest people by grabbing and selling different parts footpaths in the capital.
The bench of Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Md Bazlur Rahman directed the Home secretary or the local government division secretary on Monday to submit a list of the political persons and the councillors who occupied footpaths or walkways in the capital for making money illegally.
The court also asked the secretaries to report actions on what steps have taken against those who involved in running businesses centring footpaths as per the affidavit of the home ministry.
The two secretaries were asked to submit the list to the court by May 13.