RAJSHAHI: Truck labourers yesterday confined a traffic sergeant and barricaded highways in the city’s Nawdapara area for two and a half hours for allegedly assaulting a truckers’ union leader and demanding ‘toll’ from a truck.
The truckers scuffled with the two policemen who intercepted the truck and confined traffic sergeant Sazzad at a stall in the area. The incident took place at around 12pm when traffic police intercepted a truck for checking and found date expired documents of the truck, said Atikur Rahman, additional deputy commissioner of the city traffic police. The truck labourers protested when the traffic policemen seized the truck and were taking it to custody, he added.
Rahman led a team of police to the spot and rescued the sergeant at 2.30pm following talks with the truck labourers, said the police and truckers. The truck labourers barricaded the Rajshahi-Naogaon and Rajshahi-Chapainawabganj highways protesting the assault on Farid Ali, a vice president of Rajshahi Truck labourers Union. The traffic policemen dragged out Farid Ali, from the truck and assaulted him after he denied the policemen a toll of Tk 200, said Mynul Islam, president of Rajshahi Truck labourers Union. He said, labourers released Sazzad after senior police officials assured of justice within 6pm. They will call an indefinite strike and if no action is taken within the evening, he added.