Battery-powered auto-rickshaw drivers blocked the busy Dhaka-Mymensingh highway in Gazipur for three hours on Tuesday, protesting the alleged killing of one of their colleagues by bus workers on Monday. The protest, which began at 8 am, lasted until 11 am and took place in the Gargaria Master Bari area of Sreepur upazila, Gazipur, witnesses said, reports UNB.
The blockade caused severe disruptions to traffic, with vehicles unable to move in either direction, leaving commuters stranded. According to sources, the incident that triggered the protest occurred on Monday afternoon when a Taqwa Paribahan bus collided with an auto-rickshaw, breaking its rearview mirror. This led to an altercation between the bus staff and the auto-rickshaw driver.
Reports suggest that the bus workers then forcibly took the driver into the bus and later abandoned his body in Natun Bazar area, allegedly after killing him. The Officer-in-Charge of Sreepur Police Station, Joynal Abedin Mandol, confirmed that the driver died after being thrown from the moving bus.
A murder case has been filed, and police are actively searching for those responsible for the crime.
Bd-pratidin English/ Jisan
