The police commissioner on Wednesday accepted as true what exporters have long been alleging ? that they have to pay money to criminals, at times as much as five times the tax they pay to the government, to fetch their goods from the port.

?I agree. From now, police will try their best to put a stop to it,? Prasun Mukherjee said at an interactive session with the Federation of Indian Exporters? Organisation, eastern region. The police chief was accompanied by Ajay Ranade, deputy commissioner (port division).

The officers faced a barrage of questions from the exporters on the ?free writ? criminal raj in the port area.

An exporter said: ?The moment we receive a container from a ship, they (the criminals) come to know about it. And we cannot move the consignment from the dock unless we to pay up the gunda tax.?

The usual rate is Rs 83 per tonne. ?The gangsters calculate weight of consignments and have their men call on us with slips bearing the amount we have to cough up,? the exporter added.

In his reply, Mukherjee said: ?Like in other ports across the country, criminals are active here, too. We are trying to identify and track them down. Police will try hard to ensure a crime-free atmosphere for business. Please come forward with specific complaints, which will help us prove the criminals guilty in court.?

Elaborating on the modus operandi of the gangsters, another exporter said: ?Around seven gangs are active in the area and they have formed a syndicate. Immediately after receiving a container from a ship, we are contacted by them. Local police are in the know, but no action has been taken against the culprits.?

The exporters also drew the officers? attention to inadequate parking space in the area, causing traffic snarls.

Mukherjee said police brass had held a meeting with the Calcutta Port Trust (CPT) to solve the problem.

?We have identified a spot and requested CPT to allow us to use it for parking trucks. If they agree, we will start work right away. It will take a month to develop the plot as a parking lot.?

The exporters also requested the officers to talk to their counterparts in the districts to facilitate use of waterways to send goods to various destinations from the dock. ?Sending goods by road is risky, as they often get looted,? a participant said.

Mukherjee assured them that he would talk to the director-general of police and the district superintendents.