At a protest rally, the speakers demanded immediate scrapping of the contract signed with the Canadian company responsible for repeated disasters at the Tengratila gas field.

At about 10:00am, several hundred locals brought out a procession and put barricade on the road in front of the gas field.

About half an hour later, police baton-charged the agitators and cleared the road to make way for the Niko vehicles.

Police also picked up two agitators who were released in the evening.

In the afternoon, a rally was held at the Traffic point area protesting the police's lathicharge on the agitators at Tengratila area.

Tengratila Dabi Aday Sangram Parishad also held a protest rally in front of the gas field in the afternoon.

Fire at the main burning point at Tengratila and some other spots around continued burning yesterday while leakage of gas in innumerable bubbles was still observed.

However, the intensity of fire has lessened much during the last two days.

Niko and Bapex officials are hopeful that the situation will not deteriorate further as the gas in the pocket is exhausting fast.

As Niko authorities are preparing to start the drilling of the second relief well at Tengratila on 25 July, transportation of the materials for the rig from the Moulvibazar gas field to Tengratila continues.

Energy Secretary M Nasiruddin and Bapex Managing Director Md Jamal Uddin visited the area on Saturday.

Meanwhile, two Niko employees sustained burn injuries from fire sparked reportedly from a nearby whole while they were working on an electric generator in the gas field area yesterday.