Autorickshaw protesters torch traffic box in Mirpur, disrupting traffic flow

In Mirpur, the traffic box at Kalshi intersection was set on fire by protesters driving battery-operated auto-rickshaws. The fire was extinguished before the arrival of fire service personnel.

The incident occurred around 4 p.m. on Sunday (May 19). Confirming the incident, Deputy Officer of Fire Service Shahjahan Sardar said, "Upon receiving the news of the fire, they reached the scene within 32 minutes."

Inspector (Investigation) Mokhlesur Rahman of Pallabi Police Station stated, "Protesters at Kalshi are staging a violent protest. They set fire to a police box located at Kalshi intersection. It‍‍`s a traffic police box. We are present at the scene and taking necessary steps."

Munshir Sabbir, Officer-in-Charge of Mirpur Police Station, mentioned, "As soon as the buses started operating towards 1:30 p.m., three buses were vandalized by auto-rickshaw drivers. However, they dispersed from the spot due to police intervention."

Earlier in the morning at around 9 a.m., due to protests by workers from Pallabi, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Mirpur, Agargaon, Mirpur-2, Mirpur-1, and Mirpur-13, there were disruptions in traffic. When they were marching towards Mirpur-13 from in front of Purabi Cinema Hall, they also engaged in vandalism.

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Later, they gathered at Mirpur-10 intersection. They stayed there until around 3 p.m. and conducted a rally. Their presence caused the road from Mirpur-10 to Farmgate to be closed, resulting in more than 5 hours of traffic congestion on that road.

Eventually, at around 3 p.m., when the riot police intervened, the protesters started vandalizing buses indiscriminately on the road from Mirpur-10 to Mirpur-2. At this point, pedestrians on the road were terrified.

At one point, when a military vehicle was stranded, the driver himself got out and attempted to arrest the workers. Seeing the military uniform, the workers refrained from retaliating. In response to their protest, they ceased the vandalism. Nearly 20 minutes later, when the police officers began patrolling from Mirpur-10 to Mirpur-2, they dispersed from the road. Subsequently, traffic resumed to normalcy.