24-hr transport strike underway in Chattogram

24-hur transport strike underway in Chattogram. Prothom Alo File Photo
24-hur transport strike underway in Chattogram. Prothom Alo File Photo

A 24-hour transport strike enforced by Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation protesting the killing of a bus driver allegedly by Detective Branch (DB) of police in the district is underway on Thursday, reports UNB.

The strike that began at 6:00pm Wednesday disrupted road communications between the district and the rest of the country, causing sufferings to commuters.

Earlier, a regional committee of Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation announced the strike in two phases -- one from 6:00pm Wednesday to 6:00pm on Thursday on 68 district routes connecting Chattogram and 19 local routes.

The workers' body general secretary Mohammad Musa said that the second phase of the strike will be enforced on all routes of five districts in the division for another 24 hours on 28 April.

The protesters demanded immediate arrest of the ‘killers’ and bringing them under trial.

A group of men who identified themselves as DB police members stopped a Shyamoli Paribahan bus for searching yaba pills when it reached Shantirhat area of Patiya upazila, said Bablu Ahmed manager of Shyamoli Paribahan regional unit quoting the bus supervisor Azim Uddin.

They dragged bus driver Jalal Uddin, 50, out of the vehicle and beat him up mercilessly around 8:00pm on 22 April, leaving him severely injured, he said.

Later, physicians declared the driver dead when he was taken to Chittagong Medical College Hospital.