Transport workers demonstrated across different spots on Chattogram-Hathazari route yesterday, protesting the killing of a driver who was allegedly beaten to death.

They alleged public bus driver Abdur Rahim (45) was beaten by some eight people coming by a microbus at Amin Jute Mill area around 8:30pm on Friday night.

Vehicular movement on the route  halted for around an hour from 10:00am as the workers demonstrated at Hathazari Bus Stand, Muradpur and Oxygen intersections.

Later, police rushed to the spot and calmed the workers down, assuring justice. They soon left the blockades peacefully.

"Rahim was driving the bus when a microbus overtook it. This triggered an altercation, leading to some eight people coming out of the microbus and beating him up because he didn't give them space to go," said Md Harun, general secretary of North Chattogram Paribahan Shramik Oikya Parishad.

Passengers of the bus soon rescued and sent Rahim to his residence at Rahattar Pool. However, he started feeling unwell, and family members admitted him to Chattogram Medical College Hospital, where he died around 11:00pm. His body was sent to CMCH morgue for autopsy.

As news of Rahim's death spread in the morning, transport workers started demonstrating on the route, said police.

OC Md Kamruzzaman of Bayezid Bostami Police Station said police were investigating into the allegations. "We are collecting CCTV footage to identify the microbus," he said, adding that filing of a case was underway.