Restaurant owners yesterday protested the sudden drive by government agencies, citing that the raids are affecting their business.

"The way restaurants are raided and people are being arrested after the fire incident at the Bailey Road, we are panicking -- the problems cannot be resolved this way," said Imran Hasan, secretary general of the Bangladesh Restaurant Owners' Association.

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Rajuk seals off 4 restaurants on Bailey Road

On February 29, a fire broke out in Bailey Road's Green Cozy Cottage Shopping Mall that left 46 people dead. The seven-storey building, which housed eight eating joints, had no fire safety measures.

Following the incident, Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha has started to conduct drives in commercial buildings for fire safety compliance.

So far, 16 restaurants housed in a 14-storey commercial building and 11 restaurants in a 15-storey building on Satmasjid Road were sealed off along with two restaurants on Bailey Road. The Fire Service and Civil Defence officials sealed off a five-storey building that housed several restaurants in Khilgaon.

The police have arrested at least 21 people after raiding various restaurants in Dhaka's Gulshan, Dhanmondi and Wari areas on March 3. Among them were restaurant owners and employees.

A total of six cases were filed against them alleging misconduct or aiding and abetting of a fire or combustible material in the restaurant.

A comprehensive guideline to operate a restaurant should be in place such that no one can establish restaurants at any place, Hasan said at a press conference held at the association's office in the capital.

"The responsibility for the accident on Bailey Road should not be placed solely on the restaurant owners -- everyone should play a responsible role."

The ongoing raids are a cover-up for the failure of the authorities, Hasan said.

"Before this, no such initiative was seen from the government."

Unauthorised restaurant business is not possible in Dhaka, he said.

"If you want to do restaurant business in Dhaka, you have to get approval from several organisations. All restaurants have some sort of certification."

Even then, if someone violates the law, action can be taken against them.

"But sealing up restaurants in droves is not a solution. Businessmen will be affected and many others will be unemployed," Hasan said.

Bangladesh has 4.81 lakh restaurants, with a large portion of them being small in size. The sector has created jobs for nearly 30 lakh people. Some 2 crore people are dependent on the sector.

Many small entrepreneurs have invested in the restaurant business.

"But in this situation, there will be no small entrepreneurs. Instead, the restaurant business will go into the hands of capitalists."

Subsequently, the leaders of the association called for an end to the harassment and a discussion to solve the problem.