C'nawabganj bus owners on strike
Bus owners and workers in the district went on an indefinite strike on Monday evening to press their two-point demand including ban on shallow-engine driven human haulers.
The strike disrupted road communications between Chapainawabganj and the rest of the country, causing suffering to the passengers.
At least 300 bus drivers of the district stopped plying their vehicles as a mobile court fined a passenger bus on Monday noon. All ticket counters remained closed from Monday evening at around 7:00pm.
AKM Lutfar Rahman, president of district bus owners association said, a mobile court fined a passenger bus Tk 4000 at Fire Service intersection at around 12:30pm on Monday.
As driver Monwar Ahmed Paltu failed to pay the fine and protested plying of shallow engine driven human hauler locally known as Bhutbhuti and Nasimon, the executive magistrate of the mobile court Subrata Pal ordered to arrest him. However, after paying the amount he was freed.
Monwar Hossain Paltu is also a bus owner.
As the news spread, all drivers immediately stopped plying buses and told the matter to the leaders of the bus owners association.
Later, the association called a meeting at their office at 6:00 pm. It also sat with the leaders of district motor sromik union and jointly called an indefinite strike.
Rajshahi bus owners association also supported them, said president of Chapainawabganj bus owners association.
He alleged that a mobile court can not arrest any bus driver under the motor vehicle act.
We stopped plying buses protesting the arrest and demanding ban on all illegal shallow engine driven motor vehicles, he said.
Contacted, executive magistrate Subrata Pal said that the mobile court fined the driver as he had no legal documents of the vehicle with him. He was also detained for failing to pay the fine in time. He also misbehaved with the mobile court, Pal added.
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