A Rajuk bulldozer reached the corporate branch of a private bank on Gulshan Avenue before noon yesterday to clear the illegal structures occupying the car park of the six-story building.

The heavy-duty machine, however, remained idle for an hour. The eviction team, comprising Rajuk Authorised Officer Md Adiluzzaman, scores of technical staff and workers as well as police personnel, waited for Executive Magistrate Mohammad Abdul Hamid Mian to arrive.

Meanwhile, the bank officials launched a hectic lobbying with the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) officials to let them do the job.

“Let's see, let the magistrate come,” Adiluzzaman told one of bank officials who identified himself as the chief engineer of the bank.

Magistrate Hamid, who conducted the drive, reached the scene around an hour later and asked for the building's approved layout plan.

The plan revealed that the building's entire ground floor and its driveway designated for parking were occupied by illegal concrete structures to house the bank's office.

Besides, the building has an illegally  built basement floor. It has structures and an electric sub-station occupying the first basement floor, which too was designated for parking.

 Furthermore, the bank authorities occupied the pedestrian passages with decorative concrete structures beyond their property line and set up an ATM booth, where it should be a free passage for vehicles' entry into and exit from the basement car park.

The bank officials began another spell of lobbying with the magistrate.

“I gave you a day's time but you did nothing and there is no scope for a mobile court to walk away from such a massive violation,” said Hamid, calling upon the team to start knocking down all the illegal structures.

Interestingly, the other officials appeared hesitant and confused to carry out the order.

Resolute Hamid was seen struggling to get it done single-handedly.

Meanwhile, Sawdagor Mustafizur Rahman, a joint secretary and presently a Rajuk director for development control in Gulshan, was seen talking to the bank's chief engineer.

At one point, Mustafizur went to Hamid and this reporter overheard him saying, “Do you still intend to go ahead?”

“Yes,” Hamid answered firmly. The eviction team then started demolishing illegal structures in the basement car park.

And finally, the bulldozer roared to dismantle the decorative structure on the pedestrian passage.

Adiluzzaman said the mobile court fined the bank Tk 5 lakh and gave it 72 hours to remove the illegal structures on the ground floor, including the ATM booth.

“As to the illegal basement floor, we will place the plan to building construction (BC) committee, seeking cancellation of the plan and declaration of the building illegal,” he said.

The court later fined owner of another building next to it Tk 2 lakh for running a shoe shop and a restaurant on the ground floor, where there was approval for a lounge, and gave the owner 72 hours to remove those.

It also fined a restaurant Tk 2 lakh for setting up a coffee shop on a car park and gave it 72 hours to remove the shop, said Adiluzzaman.

A Rajuk taskforce launched the eviction drive simultaneously in Gulshan, Dhanmondi and Uttara on January 18 in a bid to recover car parks and remove illegal access ramps built occupying footpaths and roads.

In Uttara, a Rajuk team yesterday partially demolished illegal structures occupying car parks of six buildings along the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway in sector-4 and -6, said Executive Magistrate Khandokar Zakir Hossain, who led the mobile court for the drive.

Another Rajuk team in Dhanmondi penalised Labaid Hospital Tk 2 lakh for setting up stores in two basement car parks. It also fined another building owner Tk 50,000 for occupying the ground floor with a computer showroom, said Nasir Uddin, the magistrate of the mobile court.