The government yesterday banned motorcyclists from carrying passengers in a bid to prevent further arson attacks, which are often carried out by drive-by miscreants, amid heightened political turmoil in the country. The Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges issued a gazette notification in this regard.
The decision was put into effect immediately.
According to the gazette, the ban has been imposed under section 88 of the Motorcycle Act 1983, and will remain effective until further notice. The notification was signed by Deputy Secretary Mehedi Hasan.
The decision was made following several incidents in which motorbikes with pillion passengers were involved in hurling petrol and homemade bombs.
It has become a common practice for miscreants to explode crude bombs in public places, especially on the streets, and to conduct arson attacks on vehicles while commuting through motorbikes.
Earlier, on Wednesday, State Minister for Home Assaduzzaman Khan Kamal had said only motorcycles with the driver alone would be allowed to commute. However, he said in case of carrying family members such as wife and/or children, it would be excusable.
But the police, since yesterday morning, did not allow even that.
Joint Commissioner (Traffic) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Moshleh Uddin Ahmed told the Dhaka Tribune: “Under orders from the police today [Thursday] morning, we are not allowing any passengers on motorbikes. Now that we received a gazette, which was issued in the afternoon, we will file cases under the Motorcycle Act 1983 against those who carry passengers.”
Yesterday, after visiting the different places in the capital such as Banani, Panthapath, and Azimpur intersection, this correspondent noted that law enforcers at a number of check posts were only allowing motorcyclists to pass while passengers were asked to get off the bikes.
According to the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, among the registered 2.1 million vehicles, 1.3 millions are motorbikes, meaning a large section of the population will be gravely affected by this decision.
The BNP-led 20-party alliance has been enforcing a nationwide blockade since January 5, protesting BNP chief Khaleda Zia’s confinement.
Khaleda Zia had been kept confined to her Gulshan party office since January 3. Later on January 12, the barricades were removed from in front of her political office.
However, she has said the blockade is to continue until further notice.
The current blockade has been marked by violence and sporadic clashes between the police and protesters, leaving a number of people killed and injured. More than 30 people have been killed so far.