Angry locals have occupied the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway in protest against the administration’s drive to evict illegal settlements in the Jungle Salimpur area near the Bayezid Link Road in Chattogram.
Thousands of people blocked the Faujdarhat intersection of the highway near the Bangladesh Institute of Tropical and Infectious Disease (BITID) around 1:15 pm on Tuesday, causing massive gridlock, reports bdnews24.com.
The protesters initially poured onto the streets near the port city’s Asian University for Women at noon before moving to the Faujdarhat area.
They blocked two of the four lanes on the highway, halting the flow of Dhaka and Chattogram-bound traffic, according to the police.
“We are speaking to the protesters and trying to clear the highway,” said Ashraful Karim, additional superintendent of police (Sitakunda Circle).
Law enforcers and senior government officials rushed to the scene immediately after the locals launched the protests. Sitakunda Upazila Nirbahi Officer Shahadat Hossain spoke to the protesters and urged them to lift the blockade.
Demanding ownership of the land, the protesters asked officials to restore electricity supply to the evicted settlements in the Jungle Salimpur area.
Local MP Didarul Alam, however, found himself stuck in traffic on his way to the scene of the protest, his spokesperson said.
