The New Nation - Internet Edition

Mamunur Rashid

At least 100 marriage media centers and more than 500 floating match makers are running their illegal business and collecting huge amount of money from eligible bachelors in the city bating them with prospective migrant spouses from US, UK, Canada, Australia and Europe.

The Dhaka City Corporation authorities had issued licences to only ten marriage media firms on condition of complying with the rules.

"Around 100 marriage media centres have mushroomed in the city without obtaining permits from the relevant authorities, they are regularly publishing advertisements specially in vernacular dailies" said Selim, managing director of Lagan Marriage Media of Gulshan, while talking to this correspondent.

"I became a member of the Kazi Marriage Media on payment of Tk 500 with an assurance that I will be married to a Canadian citizen. After marriage, I will go to Canada, but I was deceived," said Kamal, a resident of Mayakanan in the city.

Another cheated young man Atiq said, a good number of organised gangs having links with a section of dishonest police officials are regularly harassing innocent people and collecting huge amount of money in the name of arranging marriage with expatriates of the first world countries.

Despite the massive hunt against all sorts of corruption by different law enforcing agencies, these media centres are running illegally in the capital and cheating people in the name of assuring marriage with male or female expatriates.

In a bid to root out this type of criminal activities, special team of DB have started massive drive at different marriage media centres in the city and arrested at least 10 alleged cheats in this connection, according to RAB sources.

Masudur Rahman, Assistant Commissioner of Detective Branch (DB) of police told the New Nation "On the basis of complaints, we have started massive drive at marriage media centres at Uttara and arrested a number of people, including women on charge of deceiving the people.