They brought out processions at intervals and vandalised vehicles, forcing the law enforcers to keep the four roads leading to the otherwise bustling area sealed off for 15 hours till 7:00pm. As traffic was diverted to other roads, the city saw a gridlock even on the weekend.

The demonstrators claimed that four were killed and one injured in the overnight accident and bodies of the other two [unidentified youths] might have been taken away by their relatives.

However, police confirmed the number is two. The dead--Riaz, 38, and Sujan, 18--used to hawk readymade garments. Injured Jahangir was admitted to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (Pangu Hospital) with fractured legs.

Witnesses said a pick-up of a poultry farm coming from the direction of Sergeant Ahad Police Box rammed into a throng of hawkers at around 2:25am. The crowd was jostling to secure place on the stretch between Baitul Mukarram Mosque and the police box for the weekend holiday market.

Police reached the scene shortly after the accident and sped three severely injured hawkers to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH). Riaz died on the way while Sujan minutes after arrival at the hospital.

Police brought the situation under control and put up four barricades in the area to avert untoward incidents. But they could not seize the van or arrest its driver as of filing this report at 11:30pm.

In protest, Bangladesh Sammilito Footpath Hawkers Parishad suspended yesterday's holiday market. They also declared that they would not run the makeshift markets in Gulistan until they are rehabilitated.

An uneasy calm was reigning over the area where the fuming hawkers were moving in groups with a huge contingent of police standing guard at different points.

"The government evicted us from footpaths and allowed only a narrow strip for around 10,000 hawkers living around Gulistan. Now we cannot even earn enough to meet our daily expenses," said Jalil, a shoe vendor.

The demonstrations became fiercer after police sent bodies of the deceased to their village homes without letting their colleagues to hold namaz-e-janaza.

The hawkers brought out processions calling for immediate rehabilitation and adequate space for street markets popularly known as holiday markets.

They demanded that until they are rehabilitated the government allow them the way they used to run their businesses before eviction.

"The sites fixed for holiday markets cannot even accommodate 25% of the hawkers coming from across the country," said Waliullah Patwari, president of the Hawkers Parishad.

The caretaker government on February 23 announced that the vendors could use the footpath in Gulistan only on Friday.

It also set several other places in the capital as holiday markets. Earlier on January 17, it evicted hawkers from footpaths and important points in the city.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Awami Hawkers League in a press release claimed that at least four people were killed in the accident. They demanded immediate punishment to the driver responsible for the deaths.