Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) have prosecuted 2,855 vehicles in a single day as part of a ongoing drive to curb persistent traffic violations across Bangladesh’s chaotic capital. The extensive operation, conducted by the city’s traffic division, targeted major arterial routes and congested intersections to restore order to Dhaka’s famously congested road network.

Deputy Commissioner of Police for DMP’s Media and Public Relations Division, Md. Akhtar Hossain, confirmed the figures in an official statement issued on Monday. The enforcement drive caught a wide array of transport operators violating road safety codes, ranging from public buses and heavy goods lorries to auto-rickshaws and private motorbikes. In addition to issuing fines and filing cases, traffic officers impounded 613 vehicles, sending them to dumping yards, whilst deploying breakdown lorries to tow away 368 illegally parked or unfit transport units.

A detailed breakdown of the police actions across the eight traffic divisions reveals the scale of the operation:

• Mirpur Division: Recorded the highest volume of prosecutions, totaling 621 cases. Offending vehicles included 293 motorbikes, 55 CNG auto-rickshaws, 53 covered vans, 50 buses, and 14 lorries.

• Uttara Division: Logged 615 cases, comprising 259 motorbikes, 51 CNG auto-rickshaws, 49 buses, 22 covered vans, and 13 lorries.

• Gulshan Division: Prosecuted 440 vehicles, consisting of 122 motorbikes, 55 buses, 46 CNG auto-rickshaws, 12 covered vans, and 5 lorries.

• Wari Division: Registered 386 prosecutions, which included 158 motorbikes, 44 CNG auto-rickshaws, 34 covered vans, 26 buses, and 25 lorries.

• Motijheel Division: Issued 285 cases in total, with motorbikes accounting for the vast majority at 170 offences.

• Tejgaon Division: Prosecuted 211 vehicles, amongst which were 98 motorbikes, 25 CNG auto-rickshaws, 10 buses, 10 covered vans, and 2 lorries.

• Lalbagh Division: Filed 160 cases, penalising 83 motorbikes, 13 buses, 11 lorries, 10 CNG auto-rickshaws, and 3 covered vans.

• Ramna Division: Issued 137 cases, catching 48 motorbikes, 18 buses, 14 CNG auto-rickshaws, 4 covered vans, and 1 lorry.

Dhaka’s traffic authorities face a monumental task managing a metropolitan area home to over 20 million people. Chronic traffic jams cost the national economy billions of pounds annually in lost productivity and wasted fuel. Unlicensed drivers, unfit commercial vehicles, reckless driving, and lane discipline breaches regularly paralyze movement across key corridors like Mirpur, Uttara, and Gulshan. Metropolitan police officials reiterated that these targeted enforcement drives will continue unabated until traffic discipline improves noticeably across all