Owners and workers of petrol pumps and CNG refuelling stations in Sylhet have called off their indefinite strike.
The decision was taken around 2:45am on Wednesday, just hours after the strike began at 11pm in protest against fines and alleged harassment by mobile courts.
Barrister Riashad Azim Haque Adnan, acting president of the Sylhet divisional committee of the Bangladesh Petroleum Dealers, Distributors, Agents and Petrol Pump Owners Association, confirmed the development.
He said the decision was taken late at night, causing delays in communicating it to all stations. “It took some time for operations to resume, but by around 10am, most pumps had reopened and activities returned to normal,” he added.
Sylhet Metropolitan Police Commissioner Abdul Quddus Chowdhury also confirmed that the strike had been withdrawn and that fuel stations were reopening gradually.
He said pump owners were dissatisfied with fines imposed during mobile court drives. At one point, several fuel tankers blocked the Sylhet-Dhaka highway around 10pm on Wednesday, but the blockade was lifted within an hour and a half following negotiations.
The police commissioner added that a meeting with pump owners is scheduled for Thursday to reach a long-term solution in coordination with the divisional commissioner and district administration.