Police have arrested a man for charging people money for crossing the highway divider with ladders.

In a viral Facebook video that surfaced on Sunday (17 March) afternoon, the arrestee, Rabibul (26), was seen charging a woman money for helping her cross the road using ladders in the Siddhirganj area of the Dhaka-Chattogram highway. Rabibul was arrested around 8:30pm from Siddhirganj's Rasulbag area with two ladders, said Sharfuddin Ahmed, traffic inspector of the Kachpur highway police. The viral video showed Rabibul setting up ladders over the road divider at the Shimrail turn in front of the Roads and Highways Department office, assisting pedestrians to cross, and charging Tk5 for the service.

"Rabibul told us he visited his sister's house in Siddhirganj 15 days ago. After observing passengers struggling to cross the high divider for a few days, he had the idea of starting a business using ladders. He started offering the services this morning for Tk5 per crossing," said the traffic inspector. 

"He used to be a CNG driver in Chattogram," he added.

"Preparations are underway to file a case against the arrested. He endangered the lives of passengers by illegally using ladders for crossing," Sharfuddin said.

He said the Roads and Highways Division will soon be asked to install barbed wire fences on the divider.