Sudden strike by Indian truckers stalls business activities at Hili land port

Business activities between Bangladesh and India through Hili land port in the border district of Dinajpur have been suspended since Sunday morning due to a sudden strike, enforced by Indian truckers following an alleged attack on them by Bangladeshis for an attempt to intrude into locality, reports news agency UNB.  

No truck carrying goods including maize, spices and stone entered Bangladesh territory though the land port from India on the whole day as the truckers called the sudden strike in the port area on Saturday.

Hundreds of trucks loaded with goods including perishable ones got stuck on the Indian side due to the sudden strike.

Harun-ur Rashid, a leader of Hili based import-export organisation, said security guards of private operator ‘Panama Land Port’ barred some Indian truck drivers from entering the locality violating rules prepared by business organisations from the both countries.

The truckers allegedly locked into altercations with the security guards over the matter and subsequently a chaos broke out among them, he said.

Aggrieved by the ensuing situation, the drivers parked their vehicles randomly on the road in the port area and at one stage they were harassed physically by locals, he said.

Though Indian exporters sent letters to their Bangladeshi counterparts with a proposal to settle the issue on Sunday, no meeting was held between them, said Harun, also chairman of Hakimpur upazila parishad in Dinajpur district.

He hoped that the deadlock would be solved on Monday after a bilateral meeting between the countries.