Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) officials seemed unable to dismantle 12 illegally built shops in front of the DCC central garage at Sayedabad apparently because of threats from local hoodlums.

It is alleged that the garage employees, who own these shops and take rents, are preventing the DCC from launching any drive against the illegal occupation.

The shop owners have allegedly snatched a copy of the 'eviction notice' from a DCC peon in a bid to block the move to eject them from the illegally occupied area.

Some DCC workers took over a plot of government land at Sayedabad and built 10 shops on the footpath in front of the DCC garage near the corporation's zonal office. The number of shops has increased to 12.

The garage employees claim they spend the proceeds from the shops on 'maintenance of a nearby mosque'.

The garage employees did not seek permission from the DCC zonal office for construction of the shops, said Mafizuddin Ahmed, executive engineer of zone one. "I reported it to the zonal officer on September 29, 2003," he said.

"A month earlier, we sent a notice to the DCC garage letting the employees know about the eviction drive. The shop owners signed a copy of the notice after receiving it officially but snatched the receipt from the peon when he was coming back to the zonal office from the garage," said Ahmed.

The eviction drive is bogged down in a blame game. Hemayet Hossain, zonal officer of the DCC zone one, skips the responsibility to drive the encroachers away, although he has magistracy power. He has shifted the responsibility to higher officials of taking the final decision.

"I forwarded a note to the DCC chief estate officer who has the authority to allocate land," Hossain said. "The estate office is authorised to give permission after investigation on its own or through my office. But they did not keep me informed."

Chief Estate Officer Fazlul Zoha said he did not give permission for construction of the shops at Sayedabad. He said it is the zonal officer who has to take action as he has magistracy power.

Asked whether he had obtained permission from the DCC before constructing the shops, Khandakar Milladul Islam, manager of the DCC transport division, said, "We sent an application to the mayor's office."

"We have constructed the shops to bear the expenses of the imam and other costs related to the mosque near the garage," said Milladul. "The money we get from renting the shops is not meant for any individual."

"Some 500 workers in the garage work day and night and those shops are just there to refresh them with tea and biscuits," said Abdul Karim, a DCC driver.