Bangladesh National Museum and Ahsan Manzil reopened yesterday after  Eid holidays. Their doors were open from 3:00pm onwards, but visitors found themselves faced with a unique form of suffering.

Ticket counters of the two sites were closed, as all tickets were supposed to be booked online. But most of the visitors did not buy tickets online. Some of them tried to book online tickets on the spot but failed due to the complexity of the process and issues with the servers.

Those who were still adamant to visit, bought tickets on the black market, paying double to ten times the original entrance fee of Tk 20.

The National Museum reopened after the pandemic hiatus on August 23 last year. At first, some 600 visitors used to visit the museum every day. The number has now reached 1,500.

However, despite the increase in the number of visitors, there is no physical ticketing system in place. Visitors have to book tickets online and make online payments from the museum's website. The same goes for Ahsan Manzil.

Mazharul Abedin, an Agargaon resident who came to visit the museum yesterday afternoon, said, "The pandemic  is now under control. Why are they selling tickets online? They aren't even available online."

Mohammad Hossain, another visitor, who bought tickets in black, said, "I bought a Tk 20 ticket for Tk 100.''

Asked about the source of tickets being sold in black, a security guard of the museum, requesting anonymity, said, "Museum tickets can be bought from the ground floor of Aziz Super Market and Shahbagh Biponin Bitan."

When this correspondent visited Shahbagh Bipani Bitan, an advertisement for museum tickets was seen hanging.

Talking to this correspondent, an employee of Shahbagh Biponin Bitan's AG Drug Store, wishing to remain anonymous, said, "We buy tickets online, which we sell for a higher price." "We sell a Tk 20 ticket at Tk 50 to Tk 100. Tickets priced at Tk 300 for Saarc nationals and Tk 500 for foreign nationals are being charged from Tk 1,000 to Tk 1,500," he added.

"We sell tickets online to control the crowd. Tickets are available online at a fixed price," said Khondoker Mostafizur Rahman, director general of Bangladesh National Museum.

When asked about tickets being sold in black, the director general said, "We have always advised visitors not to buy tickets from the black market. We have formed a team to regulate this phenomenon; they monitor the sales regularly."

"Several people were arrested and handed over to police for their involvement in trading tickets in the black market," he added.

The scene was quite similar at Ahsan Manzil yesterday. When this correspondent was looking for a ticket, a shopkeeper next door said, "Wait a little while. We have a man who can get you a ticket of Tk 20 for Tk 50 to 200."

"I've come to visit Ahsan Manzil with my family but there are no tickets -- both at the counter and online. We bought five tickets for Tk 80 each [in black]," said Rokon Mia from Laxmibazar.

Utpal Chandra, another resident from Segunbagicha, told this correspondent that he bought four tickets for Tk 100.

Md Serajul Islam, deputy keeper of Ahsan Manzil, said limited tickets have been arranged for visitors to purchase online after the authorities' decision.

"We cannot go outside to control the black market situation but still try to monitor, with the help of our security guards."