Services halted for 4 hours
Launch owners kept suspended their services on Paturia-Daulatdia and Aricha-Nagarbari routes for over three hours from 12 noon yesterday in protest against attack on a launch owner allegedly by Jubo League men at Aricha Launch terminal in Shivalaya upazila under the district.
Some 30-40 people led by Ali Ahsan Mithu, Shivalaya upazila Jubo League president and vice chairman of Shivalaya upazila Parishad, went to the counter of Aricha launch terminal around 11:30pm and started taking passengers into the speedboats from there, said Uzzal Fakir, the launch owner.
"They attacked me and my fellows when we protested their illegal activities. They ransacked the launch counter and looted cash Tk 3 lakh from there," he said.
He alleged that Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) of Shivalaya Circle Harun-Ar-Rashid spoke harshly to the launch owners when the latter went to him to solve the problem.
At an emergency meeting at their association office at Aricha, the launch owners demanded immediate steps to stop illegal plying of speedboats.
The launch owners earlier wrote to different authorities to stop illegal plying of 25 speedboats on Aricha-Nagarbari and Paturia-Daulatdia river routes, sources said.
The launch service resumed at around 3:40pm after local lawmaker AM Naimur Rahman Durjoy assured the launch owners of solving the matter within a short time, said launch owner Uzzal Fakir.
However, Ali Ahsan Mithu was not available on his cell phone for his comment.
ASP Harun-Ar-Rashid said they settled the dispute with the help of the UNO and local elites.
Comments