Rickshaws can move in the entire residential area, but not on an around quarter kilometre stretch of road number 3, from the Mirpur Road up to the link with road number 2 and 4.

Two Ansars have been deployed to prevent rickshaws from entering the part of road no 3 where Home Secretary Muhammad Omar Farooq resides.

"The (traffic) sergeant has asked us to perform our duty carefully as our secretary lives here," said an Ansar. "I heard that he has ordered to make this road rickshaw-free."

The Ansar said they have been on this special duty since the last two weeks to ensure that rickshaws cannot move on the road from morning to 10 at night.

"A secretary has allegedly ordered the deployment of Ansars to stop movement of rickshaws along this road, where he lives" said an official in the Rajarbagh Police Lines requesting not to be named.

However, several high officials of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) claimed that Ansars have been posted there for the sake of disciplined traffic system.

The secretary concerned could not be reached on the telephone despite repeated attempts.

But DMP Commissioner SM Mizanur Rahman told this correspondent: "He (secretary) has asked me to talk to you on the issue as you wanted to have a comment from him."

"The road is not off-limits to rickshaws but I don't know why Ansars are there," he said.

Residents of road number 3 have expressed resentment over the high official's alleged order to make the road rickshaw-free.

"It is simply unjustified that the road is made off-limits to rickshaws only for a secretary of the government," said a resident in the area.

Interestingly, the government has failed to meet the deadlines of making the city's eight major roads off-limits to rickshaw under a World Bank-funded project.

Only Mirpur road was made rickshaw-free three months ago while the government is delaying the plan for other roads showing the cause of 'public inconvenience.’