At least 23 detained from Aminbazar police checkpost

Police have detained at least 23 people today for behaving suspiciously from the checkpost set up at Aminbazar, one of the entrances of the capital.

All of them were arrested between 7am to 1pm on Saturday (10 December), Dhaka Superintendent of Police Abdullahil Kafi told The Business Standard.

"It is not possible to say exactly how many people have been detained, but it could be approximately 20 people. Some have already been released after verification. The rest are being held for questioning, and may be released if no charges are filed or if nothing is found," he said. 

"We are not stopping anyone from entering Dhaka. If there is no public transport on the road, we have nothing to do, in the morning the car was moving. The plying of rickshaws is prohibited on the highway, so the police are only discouraging the plying of rickshaws to avoid accidents," the police official added. 

Meanwhile, police activity was visible at every point from Nabinagar to Gabtali on Savar's Dhaka-Aricha highway.

At various points, the police were seen stopping Dhaka-bound vehicles on the road and questioning the passengers.

Photo: TBS

Also, there was some public transport on the road in the morning, but as time progressed, it dwindled to almost zero. Due to this, the common people traveling on the road suffered a lot.

Savar Transport Owners Association Chairman  Sohrab Hossain told TBS about the public transport crisis, yesterday we drove 20/30 vehicles, but today out of 200, not a single bus is on our roads.

"Police are stopping buses at every intersection and checking, even beating the staff. There are also fewer passengers due to the fear of police searches and harassment. The cost of even fuel oil will not be covered if we ply the buses today. So we have decided to stop the bus service for today," he added. 

It was learned from talking to several Dhaka-bound passengers at various points on the Dhaka-Aricha highway that the police are diverting public transport at various check posts and are also blocking alternative means of rickshaw movement. Being forced, many are trying to reach their destination on foot.

Photo: TBS

A person named Aminul Islam said that he left for Dhaka on a bus from Nabinagar in the morning to see a sick patient. On the way, when the bus reached the Aminbazar check post, the police turned the bus around and he was forced to walk towards Gabtali.