Tantibazar is traditionally famous for gold trade where around 200 gold shops are located. The traders said they are paying the toll to one Shaheed, popularly known as "dacoit Shaheed."

Last November they claim to have collectively paid more than Tk 50 lakh to Shaheed.

"We have not seen him so far. Two shop owners collect the money from the rest and hand it over to Shaheed's men," said one businessman.

These businessmen were reluctant to talk to the press, nor do they want to complain to the law enforcement agencies.

"Shaheed gives his directions on the phone. He demands a specific amount and sets deadline for payment," said a businessman. He added that the usual time-frame is two or three months for the payment.

Mysteriously none in the business community revealed the names of the two persons nominated to collect the money and hand the collected amount to Shaheed's henchmen.

"The police will not take any action even if we lodge complaint. We tried informing the local ward commissioner, but it did not serve any purpose," added the businessmen.

The law enforcement authorities had a different story to tell. They said that the allegation was 'mysterious' and the businesses were complicating the situation rather than helping the authority solve the problem.

"We have been trying to arrest Shaheed since the murder of a local commissioner and the information we have says that he is in India at the moment. So how can a man in India collect toll from here?" said Omar Faruque, officer-in-charge (OC), Kotwali Police Station.

The OC said that the businessmen remained mum during investigations made, which did not help the police carry out their work.

"I offered help to form community police but they are not interested," he said.

Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) sources also tagged this toll collecting process by Shaheed as a 'fairy tale.'

A Rab member told Star City that they heard about the matter but did not find any authenticity in this regard.

Some locals said that Shaheed was last seen in the area about seven months back.

Shaheed is accused in several cases including the murder of local ward commissioner Binoy Sarkar, who was killed in front of his office in May 2002.

"If people working for Shaheed could be arrested, the truth about the matter would come out," said the businessmen.

"More than 90 percent businessmen here belong to the minority community facing various problems. We do not want additional trouble," he said.