Traffic movement on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway remained suspended in Shayestaganj of Habiganj on Saturday after leaders and activists of the Habiganj Bus Owners’ Association blocked the road over the detention of buses in Moulvibazar.
Hundreds of vehicles were left stranded on both sides of the highway, causing severe suffering for passengers and transport workers, while bus services with the Sylhet division also remained disrupted.
Habiganj Bus Owners’ Association Acting General Secretary Abu Moin Chowdhury Sohel said a long-running dispute has been continuing for the past two years between the bus owners’ associations of Habiganj and Moulvibazar over operation of buses on the Habiganj-Moulvibazar-Sylhet route.
The route passes through Moulvibazar district and the dispute has triggered several incidents of attacks and counter-attacks between the two sides, he said.
As part of the continuing conflict, some transport workers in Moulvibazar allegedly stopped buses from Habiganj in the Sherpur Bridge area last Sunday.
Although leaders of the two districts’ bus owners’ associations held a meeting on Friday and settled the matter, transport workers in Moulvibazar again stopped several buses from Habiganj on Saturday morning, Sohel added.
In protest, leaders and activists of the Habiganj Bus Owners’ Association enforced the blockade on the highway in Shayestaganj at noon.
Meanwhile, Habiganj Superintendent of Police Tarek Mahmud decided to hold a meeting with leaders of the Habiganj Bus Owners’ Association in the afternoon in an effort to resolve the situation.
