Sanitation workers operating across the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) are coming under violent assault from armed groups attempting to seize control of the lucrative local waste management trade. Armed men carrying weapons have been spotted patrolling residential lanes, threatening municipal staff, and vandalising refuse vehicles. As a result, primary waste collection across at least five DNCC wards has ground to a complete halt for several days, leaving secondary transfer stations (STSs) locked and domestic garbage piling up on street corners and outside residential properties.
CCTV footage captured at 3:00 am on 26 August shows the scale of the violence, when a group of armed miscreants raided the secondary waste transfer station in Ward 21. The footage shows the assailants forcibly pulling a municipal waste truck driver from his cabin before assaulting him. Between 23 August and 29 August, clean-up crews and primary collectors working across Wards 21, 37, 38, 41, and 42 reported systematic intimidation, physical violence, and death threats aimed at forcing them to abandon their duties.
Recounting the violent encounter, one injured sanitation worker stated that after spotting four to five armed men approaching, the workers attempted to seek shelter inside a nearby informal settlement. The assailants pursued them, trapped one collector against a perimeter wall, and struck him repeatedly on the head with the butt of a handgun, causing severe lacerations near his ear. Another worker revealed that the attackers explicitly instructed the crew to halt all collection duties immediately, citing direct orders from an unnamed local political figurehead.
Waste management contractors operating in the affected areas contend that the wave of violence is driven entirely by rival groups seeking control over territorial waste collection contracts. Rakib Dhali, a sub-contractor for the Gulshan Lakefront Secondary Transfer Station, explained that criminal groups have launched coordinated ambushes over several consecutive days, making direct threat calls to individual workers’ mobile phones. According to Dhali, the extortionists demanded an extortion payment of 50 lakh taka to allow the waste handling operations to continue without interference.
This ongoing disruption has severely compromised public hygiene and created significant hardship for local residents across the five targeted wards. Property caretakers report that domestic waste is now collected erratically every few days, leaving bins overflowing in residential buildings. Sanitation workers added that gang members are blocking access routes to transfer stations, seizing collection vans, and physically preventing vehicles from unloading gathered refuse into city compactors.
Addressing the lawlessness, Mir Shahe Alam, State Minister for Local Government, issued a stern warning against the perpetrators, declaring that the government will tolerate no lawlessness or disruption in municipal waste collection services. He emphasized that strict legal action will be taken against anyone involved, regardless of their political affiliation or background. In response to the wave of violence and extortion, a formal written complaint against unknown assailants has been lodged with the Badda Police Station, and law enforcement agencies have initiated an investigation into the matter.
