Three individuals, including leaders of Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal, Basad in short, and Samajtantrik Chhatra Front, were arrested during a rally in Chattogram on Tuesday, protesting at the ongoing crackdown on battery-run rickshaws and alleged police harassment.
The arrests were made around 11:00am near Dewanhat crossing under the Double Mooring police in city, said its officer-in-charge Kazi Rafiqul Islam.
The arrested are Al Kaderi Joy, district coordinator of 鈥楻ickshaw, battery-powered rickshaw-van and easy bike sangram parishad鈥� and in-charge of Basad鈥檚 Chattogram unit; Minhaj Uddin, president, Chattogram city unit of Samajtantrik Chhatra Front, and rickshaw puller Md Rukun.
Rally organisers said that the demonstration was held under the banner of 鈥楻ickshaw, battery-powered rickshaw-van and easy bike sangram parishad鈥� pressing for their seven-point demand.
The protesters claimed that at least five of their activists were injured as the police allegedly launched an unprovoked attack during their peaceful protest rally.
Sangram Parishad member secretary Monir Hossain said, 鈥榃e were holding a pre-scheduled rally on the roadside with around 100鈥�150 participants, without obstructing the traffic or chanting any anti-government slogans. Suddenly, the police swooped on us seizing our banners and microphones they started beating us. So far, we鈥檝e had five of us treated, but the number may increase.鈥�
OC Kazi Rafiqul Islam said, 鈥楽ome individuals tried to create disorder by blocking the road in the name of protest. We removed them to keep the traffic flow on. The three people arrested are accused in a regular case filed with the Halishahar police. They have been sent to jail through the court.鈥�
On April 18, a six-month-old infant died when a battery-run auto-rickshaw plunged into a canal in Chattogram鈥檚 Kapasgola area amid a downpour.
Following the incident, Chattogram city mayor Shahadat Hossain urged the police to take measures against battery-run auto-rickshaws operating in the city.
In response, the police launched a week-long drive against these vehicles, seizing over 3,000 auto-rickshaws and sending them to dumping stations.
The police drive sparked a protest. On April 23, drivers blocked roads in Bahir Signal area under the Chandgaon police in protest. The demonstration turned violent, injuring a number of people, including five policemen. Since then, over 50 drivers have been arrested in connection with the violence.
