Leaders and activists of the banned Awami League and its affiliated organizations reportedly carried out cocktail explosions, vandalism, and arson at the Jajira end of the Padma Bridge on Thursday morning to enforce the party’s lockdown program.
Traffic on the southern end of the bridge remained suspended for about two hours, from 6am to 8am, police said.
According to Padma Bridge South police, Awami League men blocked the Dhaka-Bhanga Expressway at the Jajira end, taking positions in the Naodoba and Tastarkandi areas. They set a truck on fire in Tastarkandi around 7am, vandalized two passenger buses, and set tyres ablaze, creating panic in the area. Several cocktail explosions were also heard.
The fire service rushed to the scene and brought the fire under control. The blockade caused a half-kilometre traffic jam stretching to Jamaddar intersection in Jajira.
Padma Bridge South police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Golam Rasul said police cleared the protesters and arrested two suspects from the scene. “Traffic was closed from 6am to 8am. Later, limited movement resumed after 8:30am,” he said.
Shariatpur Superintendent of Police (SP) Nazrul Islam confirmed the arson incident, adding that additional police have been deployed in the area and traffic has returned to normal.