Traffic resumes on highways in Bhanga, no protesters on the roads

Vehicular movement on the Dhaka–Khulna and Dhaka–Barishal highways in Bhanga, Faridpur, returned to normal from morning today, Tuesday.

Locals had announced a three-day blockade of highways and railways from Sunday, protesting constituency re-demarcation and demanding the reinstatement of the previous boundaries.

The programme turned violent yesterday, Monday afternoon, when demonstrators attacked and vandalised the Bhanga police station and the Upazila Parishad premises. They also set fire to the Upazila Officers’ Club and assaulted journalists at the scene.

From this morning however traffic has resumed on both highways, though the number of vehicles is lower than usual. Shops in the markets have not fully reopened either.

Several residents of the Mansurabad area said many people avoided staying at their homes fearing arrest. Instead they took shelter at neighbouring houses for safety.

Bhanga Police Station officer-in-charge (OC) Ashraf Hossain said that as of 8:00 am, no protesters were seen on the highways. Traffic has been normal since morning, but there are concerns that demonstrators may return to the roads as the day progresses, he added.

On 4 September, the Election Commission (EC) published the final list of the 300 parliamentary constituencies through a gazette notification. Under the new demarcation, Algi and Hamirdi unions of Bhanga upazila were moved from Faridpur-4 constituency to Faridpur-2.

Since then, locals have been holding various protest programmes. From Sunday, residents began a three-day morning-to-evening blockade of highways and railway lines.