Ctg-Cox's Bazar bus services halted for 5hrs

Bus operations from Chittagong to Cox's Bazar and Bandarban was suspended for five hours yesterday as the city's transport workers observed a work stoppage demanding arrest of some Bangladesh Chhatra League activists who allegedly attacked three staff for a ticket.

Operations resumed on the routes around 3:00pm after police officials at a meeting "assured" transport leaders of taking action against the perpetrators.

In the meantime, scores of passengers suffered.

Debashish Biswas had to wait for two hours at the Bahaddarhat bus counter till the operations resumed at 3:00pm. "If I did not have an emergency, I might have returned home," he told The Daily Star.

Md Musa, president of the Chittagong unit of Bangladesh Transport Workers' Federation, said, "BCL activists led by its Chittagong city unit Organising Secretary Mayeen Shahriar beat three staff of a counter of S Alam bus service at Chandgaon around 10:00am."

They also vandalised the counter and the windowpane of a bus, he said.

Denying the allegations, Mayeen said a BCL activist wanted a ticket to Chakaria upazila, Cox's Bazar but was refused.

He said, "Cox's Bazar-bound buses usually preserve seven to eight seats for people going to Chakaria; it's a common practice but since there was a big rush of Cox's Bazar-bound passengers at that time, the staff of the counter sold out all tickets."

"When the BCL activist protested, the staff of the counter beat him up," he said. "On information, we rushed to the spot and informed police."

Police took the situation under control, he said. However, the counter staff said the BCL man was offered a back seat and requested to travel by the next bus but he refused and demanded a front seat at any rate.

The bus was scheduled to set off at 9:30am.

Mayeen said the BCL man's grandmother was sick, so he needed to travel home soon.

Sub-inspector Md Yasin of Chandgaon Police Station said a scuffle took place between the staff and BCL men, but denied occurrence of vandalism.

No case was filed.