Highway blocked over BCL rivalry

Scores of passengers were left stranded when vehicular movement on the Feni-Noakhali highway was halted for over an hour due to a road blockade, over a dispute between two committees of Senbagh upazilla unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), on Tuesday.
The leaders and activists of the old committee of upazilla BCL unit observed the blockade program from 11:30pm to 12:30 pm, rejecting the newly formed BCL upazilla committee.
Witness Abdur Rahim told Prothom Alo that the supporters of the former BCL committee president Saiful Islam and general secretary Shah Emran took to the highway at around 11:00pm. They obstructed vehicular movement by placing tree logs and oil drums and burning tyres on the highway.
A police team, led by the officer-in-charge of Senbagh police station Mostofa Kamal, tried to brought the situation under control, but the protesters refused to leave the highway. However, the protesters withdrew the blockade after Begumganj police circle assistant superintendent Imam Hassan Sikder visited the spot, and talked with them.
BCL leader Firoze Alam said, upazilla BCL unit formed a new two-member committee with him as the president and Mazedul Tanvir as the general secretary on 21 July. The old BCL committee was against this decision.
President of the former committee Saiful Islam said the new committee is illegal. The protests will continue until the new committee is abolished, he added.
Several incidents of clashes between the two committees took place in Senabagh town.
ASP Sikdar Hassan Imam and OC of Senbagh police station Mostafa Kamal confirmed the news. The situation is under control now, they added.