Stop these lawbreakers

Thousands of unlicensed motorcycles, bearing names of different departments and service providers instead of the number plates, ply roads across Jhenidah district, thanks to the negligence of the authorities concerned. PHOTO: STAR

Thousands of unregistered motorcycles, often marked with writings like urgent electricity, cable TV service, police, village police, journalist, on test etc are running in six upazilas under the district, thanks to the lax vigilance by law enforcers.

The practice continues for years, causing huge revenue losses to the government, in addition to posing serious threat to the law and order as criminals prefer using such unregistered vehicles.

There are 23,000 registered motorbikes in the district while the number of bikes plying without registration would be double, said sources at Jhenidah office of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA).

A good number of them were never brought to the BRTA office for registration while others expired their registration period as well as usual longevity.

Declining to be named, a motorbike driver said, "We buy motorbike with a huge amount of money. But when we go to BRTA office for registration they demand additional money and harass us showing faults in papers. Consequently, bikers get discouraged to do registration."

Salauddin Ahmed, chief of traffic department in Jhenidah, said, "We often seize unregistered bikes marked 'on test'. Those are returned to owners after getting registered through payment of due fees. Action will be taken against plying of unregistered motorbikes with other undesired writings too."

Seeking anonymity, a few police and administration officials said they find it hard to take action against unregistered vehicle owners due to their political link.