A group of contractors who were banned by Roads and Highways Department (RHD) over the last year for indulging in forgeries to secure contracts are now putting pressure on the authority to withdraw their ban.

They have even threatened to besiege the RHD headquarters unless the authority withdraws the ban, which has debarred 47 contractors in the past year and demanded that RHD halt all ongoing work until their demands are met.

These contractors were among the highest beneficiaries under the Sheikh Hasina-led government.

On Sunday, under the banner of RHD's Affected Contractors' Coordination Committee, the group submitted a memorandum to the RHD chief engineer, incorporating 10 demands.

In this situation, the chief engineer yesterday held a meeting with the contractors to discuss their demands.

According to RHD sources, 44 contractors were banned between February and July this year for different periods for indulging in different kinds of forgeries to secure contracts. They will not be allowed to participate in any RHD bidding processes during the ban period.

Thirteen contractors, upon filing a writ with the High Court, got a stay against the debarred order, meaning the debarred order is still valid for 31 contractors, they said.

According to sources, the banned contractors had allegedly engaged in malpractice in collusion with a section of unscrupulous officials of the RHD.

RHD documents show 41 out of 44 contractors secured 40,231 contracts amounting to Tk 83,178.5 crore during the last 13 years (fiscal years 2011-12 to 2023-24).

On Sunday, the memorandum submitted by the Coordination Committee was signed by nine contractors.

Contacted, RHD Chief Engineer Syed Moinul Hasan said they have asked the contractors to settle the debarment issue with the court.

However, meeting sources said RHD officials expressed discontent over the language of the memorandum submitted by the contractors.

RHD will scrutinise the demands and see if they are logical. Then the points will be taken to the ministry, said one participant, requesting anonymity.

The Daily Star could not contact any of the signatories to the memorandum.