‘End to extortion’: Auto-rickshaw drivers block Savar highway
Battery-run auto-rickshaw drivers blocked Savar's Nabinagar-Chandra highway to protest what they claim is "police extortion" yesterday. Thousands of drivers blocked the highway's Palli Bidyut area around noon. They burned tyres along the side of the road in protest.
The drivers also clashed with police, who were trying to remove the blockade.
Several vehicles have been left vandalised. The protest led to a two-km long traffic jam on both sides of the highway for one hour till 1:00pm.
However, police charged baton on the demonstrators and managed to remove them from the highway around 1:00pm, said Ashulia Police Station's Officer-in-Charge Kamruzzaman. The OC said that one policeman was injured when protestors threw brickbats at them while they were working on removing the blockade.
According to the auto-rickshaw drivers, at least eight to ten protestors sustained injuries during the police action. The injured received primary treatment from local hospitals. Officer-in-Charge of Savar Highway Police Station Atikur Rahman, said, "Battery-run auto-rickshaws are banned on highways. We seize and fine them if they are seen on the highway. A fine of Tk 2,500 is collected through Ucash from the drivers and a receipt is also given. There is no place for extortion."
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