Battery-run rickshaw drivers block rail tracks, roads in city

Battery-run rickshaw drivers Thursday started demonstrations blocking rail tracks and roads in Mohakhali area and roads in Agargaon areas of the city, demanding they be allowed to drive the auto-rickshaw on roads.

Drivers of the rickshaws started the blockade around 9:00 am, creating a huge traffic jam in Mohakhali and Agargaon areas.

At the same time, train communication between Dhaka and other parts of the country has been halted.

Dhaka district railway police super Anwar Hossain said the battery-run rickshaw drivers blocked the rail tracks keeping their rickshaws on the tracks. They also have blocked the roads.

Meanwhile, hundreds of battery-run rickshaw drivers blocked the Agargaon intersection and brought out a protest procession.

Sher-e-Bangla police station officer-in-charge Md Azam said the movement of traffic in the vicinity has stopped.

The High Court on Tuesday ordered to either stop or put a restriction on the movement of battery-run rickshaws on the roads of Dhaka city within three days.

On that night, a student of Jahangirnagar University, Afsana Karim, died when a battery-run rickshaw hit her on the campus.

Agitated students demonstrated in this connection.