Transport workers threaten strike in Rajshahi div from Sept 4

Rajshahi regional unit of the Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation today threatened the government to go on an indefinite transport strike in eight districts of Rajshahi division from September 4.

In a meeting held in Natore, the regional leaders decided the strike unless the murder case against the truck driver Shahjahan Ali is withdrawn by September 3 in connection with the death of the police constable Rabi Chowdhury in Mymensingh.

Talking to The Daily Star tonight, the federation’s divisional unit general secretary Ansar Ali said, their counterparts in Rangpur and Dhaka divisions would sit on August 27 and 28 respectively for deciding to expand the strike to those divisions.

On August 17, the traffic police constable Rabi Chowdhury was run over by a goods laden truck in Mymensingh.

Later, the highway police seized the truck and arrested its driver Shahjahan Ali from Natore and accused him in a case of non-bailable offence for murdering the police constable.

The government has signed an agreement with the federation leaders that the deaths in road accidents would be filed as a general case on bailable offence and then the case may turn into a murder case only if any transport driver is found guilty, said Ansar Ali.

“By filing the murder case at first, the police misused their power and broke the transport leaders’ agreement with the government,” he said explaining the call for strike.