AJR Courier Vehicles and Premises Attacked at Least 19 Times in 24 Days, Questions over Arrests

The warehouse and main distribution centre of AJR Parcel and Courier Services Limited are in Hazaribagh in the capital. Products collected from customers are first kept there, then delivered across the country by vehicle. But for the past three weeks, the company's vehicles have been attacked whenever they are seen, it is alleged.

In the last 24 days, from October 20 to November 12, the company's head office and other premises, vehicles and staff in the capital and nearby areas have been attacked at least 19 times.

Sometimes bricks are thrown at moving vehicles, breaking glass; sometimes attackers arrive by motorcycle, block the road and beat the driver. In places, petrol bombs and crude bombs have been thrown in attempts to set vehicles on fire. Six drivers and staff of the company have been injured in these attacks. Many customers' goods have also been burned.

Most recently, on Thursday, three of the company's vehicles were attacked in three places. A covered van was attacked at dawn. Another vehicle was attacked in South Jatrabari at 8:30 p.m. At 9:20 p.m., another vehicle parked in front of the company's office in Keraniganj was attacked. Police could not arrest anyone in any of the three incidents, nor could they identify who carried out the attacks.

Thursday's dawn attack targeted a vehicle kept near the warehouse in front of Shahjahan Market in Hazaribagh. When the driver and his assistant got down and moved a little away, two people arrived by motorcycle and threw a crude bomb into the van's cabin. The cabin glass broke and the whole area filled with smoke. They fled when chased by security staff and police. A case was filed at Hazaribagh Police Station that night.

About the second attack, the company said driver Sajib was resting inside the cabin with the vehicle parked on the main road in front of the office. Attackers arrived recklessly by motorcycle and smashed the main glass with a helmet. When Sajib got down from the covered van to save his life, the attackers quickly left the scene.

Then at 9:20 p.m. in Keraniganj, driver Mamun was inside the office with the vehicle parked in front of the company's own office. Two people arriving by motorcycle attacked, breaking the van's cabin glass.

AJR Courier has so far filed seven cases, four general diaries and four complaints at various police stations over the attacks and threats. Yet the attacks have not stopped. Questions have been raised over why the attackers are not being arrested even though CCTV footage exists for many incidents.

Hazaribagh Police Station officer-in-charge Md Mosharraf Hossain said on Friday evening that CCTV footage was being analysed to identify Thursday's attackers, but the motorcycle number was not yet clear. Efforts were also under way to catch those involved in the other incidents, but the attackers could not be found, he said.

The company's assistant general manager Joyanta Chowdhury said on Friday that the attackers were demanding extortion money, identifying themselves as men of top criminal Imon. Police had also been informed about the involvement of two people named Saiful and Jewel. But no one had yet been arrested in the incidents after the first attack, he said.

The series of attacks began on October 20 with an attack on the company's main warehouse in Hazaribagh. The company alleges that 70 to 80 armed people arrived on 35 to 40 motorcycles and carried out vandalism and looting. They identified themselves as Imon's men and demanded extortion money as rent for the place.

The company says goods worth about Tk 31 lakh, including CCTV cameras, an NVR and laptops, were looted during the first attack. A case was filed at Hazaribagh Police Station. The complainant was later threatened with death by phone. Eleven people were arrested in that incident, but police could not arrest any of those who gave the orders. Since then, another 18 attacks and assaults took place up to Thursday.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police, however, says every matter is being taken seriously and investigated. DMP spokesperson Deputy Commissioner Md Aktar Hossain said in the evening that some accused had been arrested over the attacks on the courier service. There was no scope for negligence by police, he said.

Because of the repeated attacks, drivers are in fear whenever they take goods out on the road. Those involved fear the business may close. The jobs of five thousand workers linked to the company are also at risk.

Businesspeople in the sector say if the attacks do not stop, the company risks closing. If that happens, several thousand workers and their families will be harmed, and customers who use the service will also suffer.

Hafizur Rahman Pulak, president of the Courier Services Association of Bangladesh, said building a courier service company is extremely difficult. Regular taxes must be paid, marketing done, and compensation paid when goods are lost or damaged. Why these incidents are happening needs to be looked into, he said.