Battery-run rickshaw drivers blocked Jurain crossing for hours and clashed with the police on Friday as they continued protests for the third consecutive day since Wednesday, a day after the High Court banned the three-wheelers on Dhaka city streets.
Over a dozen were injured and five people were arrested during the clash as nearly a thousand protesters blocked roads and rail tracks in the capital鈥檚 Jurain area.
Police lobbed tear gas shells, charged the protesters with truncheon and dispersed them about 1:00pm, three hours after they blocked road and rail tracks, according to police and witnesses.
Railway officials said that rail communication was halted for about four hours till 3:00pm on the rail route.聽
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Wari Division deputy commissioner Saleh Uddin said that they used force to disperse about 800-900 protesters and detained four to five of them.
鈥榃hen we tried to disperse protesters, they attacked us. We also used force to disperse them. We don鈥檛 know how many protesters were injured but none was from the law enforcement agencies,鈥� Saleh Uddin told 抖阴精品.
Shyampur聽police station officer-in-charge Shafiqul Islam said that they lobbed tear gas shells to disperse protesters.
鈥榃e have detained five people and scrutinising their involvement,鈥� he said, adding that they were also investigating whether any third party was involved in the incident, or not.
Khalekuzzaman Lipon, convener for the Rickshaw, Battery Rickshaw-Van, and Easybike Sangram Parishad said that he was unaware of the protest at Jurain.
鈥榃e will hold a programme in front of National Press Club on Saturday,鈥� he said, adding that the local rickshaw drivers might have staged protest at Jurain at their own initiative.
People suffered much as road and rail communication were disrupted due to the protest.聽
Dhaka Railway Station at Kamalapur station master Mohammad Anwar Hossain said that four trains, including two Narayanganj-bound commuter trains delayed on Friday.
鈥楻ailway faced no damage in the protest,鈥� the station master said.聽
On Tuesday, a High Court bench directed the authorities concerned to stop plying of battery-run rickshaws in the city.
