Staff Reporter :
A group of agitated battery-run auto-rickshaw drivers torched a traffic police box at Kalshi intersection of Mirpur in the city’s Kalshi area on Sunday afternoon.
They set the traffic police box on fire around 4:15 pm, said Pallabi Police Station inspector (investigation) Mokhlesur Rahman.
He said, Battery-run rickshaw and easy bike drivers have blocked roads in the capital’s Kalshi intersection protesting the government ban on their vehicles seeking permission to run battery-run rickshaws since morning.
“We are on the scene and taking necessary measures in this regard,” he added.
Jashim Uddin Molla, deputy commissioner (DC) of Mipur Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, had earlier told the media that the movement of auto-rickshaws was stopped in Mirpur area after a High Court order.
Protesting against the decision, the auto-rickshaw drivers gathered at Mirpur-10 intersection this morning and staged a demonstration, suspending vehicular movement in the area, he said.
After around four hours, police removed the protesters from the road around 4:30 pm and later, they might have torched the traffic police box at Kalshi, the official added.
Mirpur Police Station officer in-charge Munshi Sabbir said the auto-rickshaw drivers vandalized three buses during the protest.
Earlier on May 15, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader in a meeting at Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) headquarters asked not to allow the movement of battey-run auto-rickshaws in the capital.