CCTV cameras on Dhaka-Ctg highway to go online in July

Fame Apparels Limited, located in Bscic Industrial Estate, Fatullah, exported a consignment of around 1.18 lakh pieces of garments worth around Tk2.9 crore to Germany. However, two months later the German buyer informed Fame Apparels that it received 30,000 pieces fewer products than what it had ordered.

The incident cost Fame Apparels Tk80 lakh as fine and dealt a severe blow to its image among the buyers.

According to police sources, export-oriented goods worth thousands of crores of taka were stolen from vans carrying them on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway in the last ten years. However, garment exporters said the real number of theft was way more than that as many do not complain about these incidents to uphold their image at home and abroad.

To prevent theft of export-oriented products as well as other crimes, the authorities concerned are installing 1,427 CCTV cameras on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway from the Signboard area in the capital to the City Gate area in Chattogram. This is the first project of this kind in Bangladesh.

The work of installing cameras at 490 spots on the 265 km long highway started in June 2021 under the project, "Highway Police Capacity Building", involving Tk152.56 crore.

Highway Police Chief Md Shahabuddin Khan told TBS, "The work of setting up poles, electricity and internet connections, and other facilities is almost finished. Hopefully we can start the monitoring work with CCTV from July this year. If this service starts, the theft of export-oriented goods and accidents on the highway will decrease."

How export-oriented products are stolen

The police and transport leaders have said it is mainly drivers and their assistants who are involved in the theft of export-oriented garment products. They supply them to gang members, who store them in rented warehouses in different areas along the Dhaka-Chattogram highway.

The gang of thieves unbolt the door lock of covered vans, leaving the seals and tags intact. Then they remove a portion of the product from the cartons inside the van and close them with scotch tape. Not all products are removed from a carton, so the theft cannot be identified immediately after unloading.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Additional Commissioner AKM Hafiz Akhtar told TBS, "After stealing export-oriented products, the thieves send them to the warehouses of some small buying houses across the country.

"Some of these products are sold in shopping malls in Dhaka and Chattogram, while others are exported. In particular, a large part of the stolen garments are sent to African countries."

Five monitoring centres along Dhaka-Ctg highway

The police will divide the Dhaka-Chattogram highway into two regions to monitor vehicle movements with cameras, including Long Range PTZ cameras and bullet cameras.

Law enforcers will be able to detect intrusion, suspicious movement of vehicles, vehicles exiting the highway, slow traffic areas, and reckless driving with the monitoring system.

The cameras will be controlled from five monitoring centres --- Meghnaghat Narayanganj, Daudkandi in Cumilla, Feni police station, and City Gate and Mirsarai areas in Chattogram. The Highway Command Control Centre Monitoring and a data centre are set up at Meghnaghat.

Highway Police Chief Md Shahabuddin Khan said whenever a goods-laden vehicle leaves a warehouse, the factory authorities will provide the vehicle number, driver's identity and destination to the Highway Police. The police will keep an eye on vehicle movements from the control centre. If the movement of a vehicle appears suspicious, a mobile team of police will immediately intercept it.

Mohammad Rahmat Ullah, superintendent of Highway Police in Cumilla, said, "Real time monitoring of vehicle movement on the highway will be possible once the cameras are installed. In addition to preventing theft, we will be able to quickly identify reckless drivers and criminals, and take action against them."

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) and the Chattogram Chamber Of Commerce and Industry have welcomed the initiative of the Highway Police.

BKMEA Executive President Mohammad Hatem told TBS, "Export-oriented garment products are being stolen on the way to the port, putting our image in the foreign countries in crisis. Many of the buyers also cancel their orders after such incidents. In this situation, the Highway Police initiative is very promising."

BGMEA First Vice-President Syed Nazrul Islam told TBS, "Monitoring through CCTV cameras alone cannot stop the criminal gangs. To resolve the problem, the Highway Police have to work in coordination with the traders. Besides, the transport owners and workers should be brought under monitoring."

Abdul Motaleb, general secretary of Bangladesh Truck-Covered Van Transport Agency, told TBS, "Truck drivers and their assistants steal export products for a gang. I hope the situation will improve if CCTV cameras are installed."