Striking transport workers threw rotten fruit and vegetables and smeared engine oil into the faces of drivers who defied their 48-hour nationwide walkout, eyewitnesses claimed on Monday.
In Jatrabari, local people complained that protesters stopped a few cars and threw rotten fruit and vegetables at drivers' faces from around 8am to 9:30am on Monday morning.
The picketing followed a similar pattern to Sunday, when protesters were reported to have stopped vehicles in the Jatrabari, Gabtoli, Gulistan, and Mohakhali bus terminal areas, and covered drivers with engine oil.
In the Kajla area of Jatrabari, protesters also dragged the drivers of private vehicles into the road and slapped them for defying the strike.
“Some of our workers and people from other organizations were involved such incidents,” Osman Ali, secretary general of Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation, told the Dhaka Tribune. “We will take action against those involved in such matters.”
However, Jatrabari police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Wazed Ali denied the claims made on Monday.
"We have been monitoring the area since the morning (and) we did not witness such incidents" he told the Dhaka Tribune.
"In early morning, a few transport workers tried to stop vehicles, but we mitigated the situation (and) no one lodged a complaint with the police station.”
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Mehedi Hasan, a photojournalist for the Dhaka Tribune, said he witnessed transport workers stopping vehicles in the Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge (also known as, Postogola bridge) area from 10:00am to 11:30am.
“They smeared the faces of the drivers with burnt engine oil,” he said.
The police stations responsible for the Postogola Bridge area passed the buck over the claims on Monday.
“The incidents occurred on the side of the Postogola bridge that falls under the authority of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP),” South Keraniganj police station Officer-in-Charge (investigation) Md Kamal Hossain said.
However, Shyampur police station Inspector Mizanur Rahman said the side of the Postogola bridge area that falls under his jurisdiction - under the authority of DMP - did not witness any such incidents while he was monitoring the area.
“I had heard of such incidents occurring on the side of Postogola Bridge that lies under the authority of Dhaka range police, in Keraniganj,” he said.
