Transport workers at Sylhet’s Sunamganj and Habiganj have called a day-long strike to press home their seven-point demand.
The strike called by Sylhet divisional unit of Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation (BRTWF) started from 6:00am on Monday (Apr 29).
Their demands include seeks safe passage for a driver who has been accused in the murder of Sylhet Agriculture University student Wasim Afnan.
Wasim was crushed run over by a running bus at Sherpur on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway in Moulvibazar after he was pushed off the bus by its helper on March 23 evening.
The bus driver Jewel Ahmed and helper Masuk Ali were detained in connection with the murder. Later, they confessed to the crime before a court.
The transport workers demanded that the case over Wasim’s killing be filed under section-304 instead of section-302 of the Penal Code.
According to the Penal Code, section-302 is for punishment of murder where section-304 is for culpable homicide.
People at Sunamganj are having to walk to their destinations due to the lack of transport and only a few battery operated three-wheelers are running.
Sunamganj District Road Transport Workers Union President Md Sahar Uddin said that they will resort to indefinite strikes if their demands are not met.
“Police are there at the bus terminal for security,” said Sadar police Sub-Inspector Pradip Chakraborty.
He added that no buses had left the terminal since morning but no untoward incident has taken place.
The scenario was similar at Habiganj bus terminal. Passengers are suffering due to the sudden lack in transport.
Habiganj District Road Transport Workers Union General Secretary Sajib Ali said that their seven-point demands include stopping police harassment in the highways.