Members of BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Chhatra Shibir, engaged in clashes with police at several spots on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway at Sitakunda upazila, Chittagong on Friday.
Sources said the altercation escalated when protesters blocked the highway protesting the arrest of 19 of their members.
No reports of any casualties or arrests made in connection with the incident were issued.
The protesters vandalised at least 15 vehicles near the upazila’s Barabkunda, Amirabad, Siraj Mia Raster Matha and some other points throughout the highway during the three hour blockade that lasted from 10:30am to 1:30pm, police and local sources said.
A long tailback formed because of the blockade in the both sides of the highway causing distress to commuters, sources added.
Sources also said that some activists from the localc hapter of BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir barricaded the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway at the upazila’s Barabkunda area demanding the release of the arrested 19 individuals who were held the night before.
Syed Iqbal Ali, assistant superintendent of police (ASP) of Sitakunda Circle, told the Dhaka Tribune: “Members of BNP, Jamaat and Shibir locked into a clash with the police at around 10:30am when the law enforcers rushed to the spot to remove the blockade.”
Police fired several rounds of bullets in the air to disperse the protesters, he said.
They also barricaded the highways at Amirabad, Siraj Mia Raster Matha, Shuklalhat and Bypass when police rushed in, he added.
By 1pm the police were able to bring the situation under control while vehicular movement on the highway was seen resumed by 1:30pm.
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) troops, who were deployed in the upazila earlier, were positioned throughout several key points to maintain control, said Farid Uddin, additional superintendent of police of north zone in Chittagong.