Over a hundred students from different educational institutions on Saturday held a demonstration blocking the Dhaka- Mymensingh highway demanding an end to mugging at Tongi in Gazipur.
About a 45-minute blockade from 11:00am on the day on one of the country鈥檚 busiest highways created huge traffic congestion and people suffered immensely.
Protesting students alleged that about 60-70 mugging incidents took place in areas between Tongi Bazar and Gazipur Bus Stand daily.
At least 20 students became victims of mugging in the past few days and muggers stabbed pedestrians with sharp weapons, leaving many of them injured, the students said, adding that local people, traders, pedestrians and garment workers did not want to go outside after evening.聽
The students said that they would wage a tougher movement, if police did not take action to contain mugging.
Gazipur Metropolitan Police Tongi Zone assistant deputy commissioner Mehedi Hasan said that the students lodged a verbal complaint with them urging them to stop mugging.
鈥楽everal teams of the police are working to arrest muggers,鈥� Mehedi said, adding that the students said that they would work with police on different highways to stop mugging in the area.
The country has yet to see any significant improvement in the overall law and order situation plummeting since Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 ouster on August 5 in a mass uprising followed by the Professor Muhammad Yunus-led interim government taking over on August 8 past year.