A Rajuk team on the fourth day of a fortnight-long eviction drive yesterday demolished an illegal market that housed about 15 shops in a residential area behind Sobhanbagh mosque in the capital.

The team also knocked down BFC fast food shop in the basement parking space of a building near the mosque in Dhanmondi, said Rajuk Executive Magistrate Md Nasir Uddin, who led the drive with a mobile court.

Besides, Daffodil School behind the mosque was pulled down, as it was being run in a residential building, said the magistrate.

On January 18, Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) launched the mobile court drive simultaneously in Gulshan, Uttara and Dhanmondi to reclaim basement car parking spaces being illegally used for commercial purposes and dismantle illegal ramps built encroaching upon roads.         

The Uttara team yesterday continued demolishing 174 shops in the basement of Kushol Centre, said Khandokar Zakir Hossain, Rajuk executive magistrate, who led the drive.

The shops were so heavily built that it took three days to demolish those completely, he said.

In Gulshan, a dozen illegal ramps constructed occupying streets were demolished during yesterday's drive. Structures were also knocked down in the basement of two buildings in and around Road-8, said another Rajuk Executive Magistrate Md Abdul Hamid Mian, the team leader.  

They also fined the two building owners Tk 2 lakh each, he said. 

The drive continues until February 4 except on the weekends.   

On November 22 last year, the housing and public works ministry in a meeting decided to free the basement parking lot from illegal occupancy to help resolve horrendous traffic problem. Housing Minister Mosharraf Hossain chaired the meeting.