Nearly 3,500 illegal shops are identified in 21 markets out of 86 markets of the Dhaka South City Corporation.

Officials of the corporation said that a huge number of illegal shops were given allotment during the tenure of the immediate past mayor, Mohammad Sayeed Khokon.

They said that the shops, including permanently allocated shops, were built violating the original designs of the markets increasing thereby the risks of disaster and discomfort of the customers.

Dhaka south city mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh said that the DSCC started drives against all sorts of irregularities and they would continue the eviction drives.

DSCC officials said that the former chief revenue officer, Yusuf Ali Sarder, who was fired from the corporation for corruption allegations, had an unholy nexus with the traders and mayor in setting up the illegal shops.

Yusuf, however, could not be reached for comments.

The Anti-Corruption Commission also started to probe the corruption of Yusuf who allegedly have a dual citizenship and family members had been living in Canada.

Alongside the revenue department officials, a section of engineering, estate department officials, the syndicate of market samity leaders were involved in allocating the shops to the shop owners charging them Tk 10-15 lakh for each allocation.

The syndicate used to collect monthly Tk 70-80 lakh as rent of the shops, officials of revenue department estimated.

The corruption in shop allocation resurfaced as the DSCC started an eviction drive against the illegal shops at Fulbaria Super Market at Gulistan.

Former mayor Khokon said that shops at Fulbaria market were legal.

The traders were given allocation following due processes after board members had approved of the changes to the original design of the market and the rent had also been collected for seven-eight years, he said.

‘Evicting legal shops after declaring them illegal is not acceptable,’ added the former mayor.

He demanded the rehabilitation of and compensation for the shop owners who faced eviction and demanded that before any further eviction drive the shop owners should be cautioned first.

According to the revenue department officials the DSCC allocated 1,224 shops at New Super Market but an additional 20 illegal shops were set up there.

The DSCC allocated 84 shops at Nilkhet Roadside Market but three more storeys were illegally added to the building and 112 shops allocated space there while the DSCC surveyors  identified 450 illegal shops at Kaptan Bazar-1 and 447 shops at Kaptan Bazar-2.

The immediate past president of the DSCC Market Federation, Jahir Uddin Babar, told New Age that he welcomed the drives against illegal shops and requested the mayor to take actions against officials involved in corruption.

‘Corrupt officials took the benefit which only made the traders losers,’ he said adding that as a president he had no involvement and would not take any

responsibility what other leaders of markets were involved in.

Dhaka South City Corporation estate officer Rasel Sabrin said that a committee headed by the chief engineer of the corporation continued inspecting markets and identifying illegal shops.

‘We will conduct drives against the illegal shops in phases,’ he said.