Paschim Patiya in Patiya upazila of Chattogram is becoming an industrial zone fast as a good number of small and big industrial factories are being established there.
Crores of taka are being invested for developing the industries, including power plants, steel mills and garment factories.
But, industrialisation and implementation of development projects in the area are being hampered allegedly by Jatiya Sangsad Whip Shamsul Haque Chowdhury alias Bichchhu Shamsu and his son Nazmul Karim Chowdhury Sharun for their personal gains.
The whip, his son and other family members took control of the overall development activities, said sources.
They established supremacy in the area and nothing -- buying and selling of land, filling land, supplying labourers and construction materials -- can be done going beyond their words, they alleged.
The investors are bound to pay more prices than the usual ones for carrying out their activities there.
Otherwise, the work is stopped and the businesspeople are evicted from land they buy for developing industries.
Construction cost increases due to the additional expenditure which basically hinders the overall development of the country.
The whip syndicate creates troubles to the businessmen if they do not get work.
Later, they call the industry owners to the whip’s offices in Chattogram and Dhaka in the name of solving the problem.
According to the sources, the industries which faced trouble much include several power plants and garment industries of renowned industrial groups.
However, none of the affected industrialists dared to raise voice against the whip and his family despite facing harassment in different ways.
Rather, they want to run their businesses without protesting the matter to avoid further hassle.
One of the affected owners, preferring anonymity, said they carried out the work facing many problems and now they want to run the business without any further hassle.
Industry owners and officials said a lot of industries are being established in Paschim Patiya investing thousands of crores of taka.
When any industry owner decides to buy land, then whip followers rush to him with offer of selling land from them.
They create problems in various ways if the owner does not agree to buy land from them, they said.
Sources said the whip’s family members assign brokers to hike the land price when an industry owner chooses to buy it.
Even the whip’s family and followers force the owners to give the soil-filling work to them and they also charge a higher amount than the usual one for the purpose.
The gang also forces the entrepreneurs to buy construction materials at a higher price from them, alleged the sources.
In this way, the whip followers earn money establishing supremacy in the industrial area.
They create trouble if any of the works goes beyond their grip and called persons concerned to Chattogram and Dhaka for settling the issue.
The entrepreneurs demanded that immediate steps be taken for boosting business activities in Patiya.
BDST: 1407 HRS, SEP 11, 2021
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