Counter-protest: DU admission seekers block Dhaka-Aricha highway

Vehicular traffic on the busy Dhaka-Aricha highway came to a halt for nearly an hour on Friday, as candidates seeking admission to seven colleges under Dhaka University blocked the high-speed corridor in protest against the indefinite nation-wide bus and truck strike.

The admission seekers gathered on the Dhaka-Aricha highway around 8am and blocked both its carriageways, halting traffic. This was after they faced trouble reaching the entrance examination centers owing to the public transport strike.

They were soon joined by a number of government bank job aspirants who faced a difficult time finding alternative modes of transport to reach their exam centres.

Abrar Hossain, a student protester, said, "I left my home in the wee hours of Friday for the DU exam centre. After reaching Jahangirnagar University, I had to pay extra to an auto-rickshaw driver who dropped me at Savar bus stand, where I found scores of admission seekers like me waiting for a public bus."

Picture: UNB

Tasnia Rahman, eyeing for a seat at Begum Badrunnesa Government Women's College, said "I had hired a private car to go to the exam centre, but got stuck in the Shimultala area due to the demonstration."

Kazi Mainul Islam, officer-in-charge of Savar Model Police Station, said traffic movement became normal around 9am, following police intervention.

Overall, commuters across Bangladesh had a harrowing time on Friday as bus owners and transporters began an indefinite nation-wide strike in protest against fuel price hike.

In Dhaka, not a single long-distance bus or goods carrying vehicle left any terminal as the protesters laid siege to the bus bays.