Long-haul transport owners yesterday agreed to a government directive not to operate any bus on highways after 9pm during the ongoing blockade until further notice.
The directive was issued at a meeting yesterday evening in view of the recent spate of arson attacks that damaged hundreds of vehicles in different parts of the country. State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal held the meeting with transport owners at the Home Ministry.
But the directive would not be applicable to freight transports, including trucks and covered vans.
After the meeting, police also directed officials at all highway bus terminals to let buses run only between 6am and 9pm.
Kamal told reporters after the meeting the government took the decision in line with the suggestion made by police on February 7 not to operate any bus on highways at night. “We have identified some vulnerable points in the northern part of the country and steps will be taken shortly to ensure security at those,” he said.
The government earlier identified 993 risky points on highways and decided to deploy 12,000 Ansar members there. BGB has already been deployed to ensure security on roads.
Dhaka Sarak Paribahan Malik Samity Secretary Khandaker Enayet Ullah told the Dhaka Tribune the transport owners would comply with the government order.
“But we also demand that security be ensured at the vulnerable points immediately,” he said.
Even though transport owners agreed to follow the government order, they told reporters that security measures were not adequate at vulnerable points. We were earlier told that security would be beefed up but that actually did not happen, they said.
Arson attacks on buses and trucks across the country have killed over 60 people since January 5 when BNP chief Khaleda Zia imposed the indefinite blockade.