Rajbari Sadar Hospital's ongoing lift work 'stopped' due to non-payment of dues

The construction work of the 250-bed District Sadar Hospital in Rajbari is being disrupted due to extortionists. Multiple local extortionist groups are creating obstacles one after another in the installation of the hospital's lift. The officials present at the District Development Coordination Meeting expressed their anger over this.
A detailed discussion on the issue was held at the District Development Coordination Meeting held at the Officers' Club in Rajbari at 10 am on Sunday (July 21), at the District Development Coordination Meeting chaired by Deputy Commissioner Sultana Akhter.
The Deputy Commissioner wanted to know about the progress of the hospital construction work in the meeting. However, although the Executive Engineer of the Public Works Department was not present in the meeting, Sub-Divisional Engineer (Civil) Mohammad Zahirul Islam presented the horrifying information.
He said, "Local extortionists are repeatedly threatening the installation of the lift. After one group pays extortion, another group comes and demands again. This has made it difficult for the contractors to carry out the work."
Mohammad Zahirul Islam further said that it is not just extortion - before this, the hospital's AC and various outdoor items have been stolen. Extortionists are threatening to attack the work site. They are even threatening to kill workers and engineers. As a result, the elevator work is about to stop.

A written complaint was made in this regard before this incident. On January 20 of this year, Abdullah Al Mamun, the senior manager of the contracting company, sent a written complaint to the executive engineer of the Rajbari Public Works Department.

A copy of that letter was also sent to the Deputy Commissioner, the hospital's superintendent, the army camp in charge, and the OC of Rajbari Sadar Police Station.

Then, on January 21, another letter was sent to the OC of Sadar Police Station from the Public Works Department. It also mentioned the same insecurity. The letter said that on the night of January 19, 8 to 10 armed men entered the project area, demanded extortion, and left, threatening to kill them. Since then, there has been deep concern about the safety of the goods and workers.
Rajbari Citizens Committee President Jyoti Shankar Jhantu expressed his anger and said, “The most humane place in the state is the hospital. Asking for extortion there is not only illegal, it is an act against humanity. The government and the administration should take immediate action.”
Meanwhile, the District Superintendent of Police, Md. Kamrul Islam gave a clear warning at the district development coordination meeting, saying, “Extortion will not be allowed in Rajbari. The matter is being looked into seriously, and the police have already started an investigation.”
In 2018, the work of upgrading Rajbari District Sadar Hospital to 250 beds at a cost of Tk 50 crore was started to reduce the suffering of patients.
Currently, work is underway to install an elevator in the hospital at a cost of Tk 3 crore 91 lakh 81 thousand. But the pace of work is being severely hampered due to the ongoing extortion.