Rickshaw pullers occupied the Shahbagh intersection on Monday morning, calling for a ban on battery-operated autorickshaws, among other demands, halting all traffic on surrounding roads.
They began their protest by blocking the Shahbagh intersection at around 10:30am.
The protesting rickshaw pullers said autorickshaw drivers did not charge fair fares from passengers – where the fare should be Tk50, autorickshaw charged passengers only Tk20, which was why they were not getting any passengers.
They added that the money they earned by pulling rickshaws all day was not even enough to support themselves, let alone their families.
The protesters said previously, autorickshaws used to operate in the alleys, but now they ran on the main roads. They explained that autorickshaws on the main roads did not follow traffic rules, which caused traffic jams and accidents.
Previously, former road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader ordered authorities on May 15 to ensure that battery-operated rickshaws were banned from operating on Dhaka city roads.
On May 19, autorickshaw drivers protested the police seizure of their vehicles by blocking the Mirpur 10 intersection in the capital. They vandalized buses and set fire to a police box at the Kalshi intersection in Mirpur.
The next day, in the face of protests, former prime minister Sheikh Hasina allowed battery-operated rickshaws to continue operating in Dhaka.
