Hundreds of transport owners and workers blocked the Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar highway in Patiya upazila of Chittagong Sunday, demanding smooth entrance of their vehicles into the port city.
The owners and those working on the human haulers blocked the highway in the Shantirhat area of the upazila around 10:30am, said sources.
The protesters said for the last couple of days, the traffic authority had been obstructing their vehicles’ entry into the city. They put up the road blockade to press the issue.
After about half an hour, the traffic authorities and the human hauler owners came to a mutual understanding, said Mafiz Uddin, officer-in-charge of Patiya Police Station. Following their agreement, police removed the workers from the highway, he said.
However, the protesters again blocked the highway in Moijjartek area under Karnaphuli Police Station at 1pm alleging that traffic police had once again obstructed a human hauler from entering into the area.
The blockade continued upto 2:30pm, creating long tailbacks on both sides of the highway. Officer-in-charge of Karnaphuli police station Mohammad Mohiuddin denied that there was a second blockade from 1:30pm onwards.
Vehicular movement on the highway resumed around 2:45pm.