Hundreds of motorcyclists blocked a regional highway in Jamalpur’s Islampur Upazila for nearly two hours on Monday morning after waiting in vain for fuel at a filling station following a false social media post.
The blockade on the Dewanganj-Jamalpur regional road in front of Messrs Jharna Filling Station began around 7:30am, with protesters placing tree trunks across the carriageway, halting traffic on both sides and causing severe gridlock.
Local sources said news spread on Facebook that fuel oil would be sold at the filling station. From early morning, over a hundred motorcyclists lined up hoping to get fuel. However, the pump remained closed and no fuel was supplied even after a long wait.
Frustrated, the waiting motorcyclists took to the road and created the blockade using tree trunks.
The protest completely halted traffic on the important regional road, causing long tailbacks and severe suffering for passengers.
Police and army personnel arrived at the scene around 9:30 am, brought the situation under control, and removed the blockade. Traffic gradually returned to normal.
Islampur Police Station Officer-in-Charge Abdul Kayum Ghazi said the situation was triggered by false information from a Facebook post. Police responded quickly and brought the situation under control, and traffic is currently normal on the road.
