Bus owners and workers have called a 24-hour transport strike starting from Wednesday morning in protest against acts of violence at Sitakunda.
Transport operators and workers took the decision in a meeting on Tuesday held at the BRTC depot in the port city.
The strike will begin at 6am Wednesday and will last until 6am Thursday, Kafil Uddin, General Secretary of the inter-district bus owners’ organisation, told journalists.
At least five buses were set on fire and several more were damaged by locals on Tuesday on the highway at Sitakundu, he said.
Agitated locals blocked the highway at around 10am on Tuesday and vandalised vehicles at Sitakunda after a 22-year-old died in a road accident on Tuesday morning.
Traffic on one of the country’s busiest highways came to a halt for nearly four hours. Rabiul Islam Rubel, a sixth-semester student at the International Islamic University, was killed in a road accident on Tuesday morning, Baroaulia police outpost Inspector Sohel Imtiaz said.
He was the son of retired army officer Ayub Khan, hailing from Syedpur Union’s Haat Bazar.
Witnesses said the victim was waiting for a ride to the campus when a bus belonging to the ‘Star Line Service’ ran him over, killing him on the spot.-bdnews24.com
