Battery-run rickshaw drivers block rail lines for 3 hrs, clash with police in Jurain

The drivers of battery-run rickshaws demonstrated in the capital’s Jurain for three hours from 11:00 am on Friday blocking the rail lines in the area. They also engaged in clashes with police during the protests.

Drivers enforced the blockade protesting the ban on the movement of battery-run rickshaws and demanding permission to ply those rickshaws on Dhaka roads.

Movement of trains on Dhaka-Narayanganj and trains bound for Khulna and Rajshahi departing from Dhaka remained halted from 11:00 am until filling this report around 4:00 pm.

Police and witnesses said more than 200 battery-run rickshaw drivers blocked the Jurain level crossing and began demonstrations, causing traffic jams on both sides of the crossing. Police requested the protesters to clear the area around 12:45 pm, which they ignored.

At one point, chases took place between protesters and police. Protesting drivers hurled brick chips at police, triggering clashes. Police lobbed tear gas shells and charged batons to disperse battery-run rickshaw drivers.

Shaympur police station officer-in-charge (OC) Md Shafiqul Islam told Prothom Alo that the police fired tear gas canisters and charged batons to control the situation. The situation returned to normal after 1:30 pm, he added.

Md Anwar Hossain, station master of Kamalapur railway station in Dhaka, told Prothom Alo that the movement of trains on Dhaka-Narayanganj, trains bound for Khulna and Rajshahi via Padma Bridge remained halted since 11:00 am.

Trains departing from Narayanganj, Rajshahi and Khulna remain halted midway en route to Dhaka. Train movement will resume upon taking inputs from police, he added.