Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has commented that the price of daily commodities increases due to excess profit rather than extortion.
He said, "We have researched the amount of contribution required to be paid until a cargo truck from a remote area reaches Dhaka and how much the price increases after taking that product from the Kawran Bazar to another market."
He said this in response to a question from journalists after the inauguration ceremony of the 'Post Graduate Diploma in Cyber Security' course at the Bangladesh Police Staff College in Mirpur of the capital on Saturday (March 23) morning.
Passenger buses and cargo trucks are extorted. What will be the role of law enforcement in this case? In response to such a question, he said that Police-RAB is in a strict position to prevent extortion.
The minister said that instead of extortion, the things that are being sold at Tk. 20 in Kawran Bazar are being sold at Tk. 40 a little distance away. More influence than extortion in this case i.e. thinking of more profit.
He also said, "We have calculated the amount of money a truck needs to be paid from Jashore to Dhaka." Due to higher profits than extortion, the price of daily necessities in Dhaka increases. A special police drive is going on to prevent extortion.
The Home Minister also said that the Dhaka-Chattogram highway has already been covered by cameras to stop extortion. All highways will be covered by cameras in future.
In response to a question regarding the process of taking action against those who are increasing the prices of daily commodities by making exorbitant profits, the Home Minister said that apart from the law and order forces, various forces including consumer rights work here. Law enforcement officers perform their assigned duties whenever they come to the attention of law enforcement agencies.
He said that it will be possible to prevent excessive profit if the sale of daily necessities starts in the neighborhood by discussing with those who are making more profit.
The Senior Secretary of public security Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs Mostafizur Rahman was the special guest at the event, IGP Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, National University Vice Chancellor Professor Dr. Md. Moshiur Rahman were present while it was presided over by Rector of Police Staff College (Additional IGP) Mallik Fakhrul Islam.