Protesters in Faridpur’s Bhanga upazila once again blocked roads on Monday to protest the redrawing of parliamentary constituency boundaries.
Demonstrators set fire to tires and placed tree logs and electricity poles on the road to halt traffic. Police intervened to keep vehicles moving, which led to a chase-and-counter chase between the two sides.
Although the blockade was suspended earlier in the morning, it resumed around 10:30 a.m. Authorities had ramped up security and deployed law enforcement at key points to maintain normal traffic flow.
On Saturday, demonstrators had announced a three-day blockade from September 13 to 16. They blocked both highways and railways from Sunday morning until 5:30 p.m. Afterward, at the instruction of Home Affairs Adviser Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Md. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, protesters temporarily lifted the blockade to ease public suffering. Traffic on the Dhaka–southern region routes resumed on Monday morning but was disrupted again after 10:30 a.m.
Locals say that days of morning-to-evening blockades have disrupted daily life but stressed they want the government to address Bhanga residents’ demands. Truck drivers and workers reported a sharp decline in Dhaka-bound vehicles from Bhanga. The blockade effectively cut off access between Dhaka and 21 districts via the Bhanga Interchange, a key gateway to the south.
Bhanga Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Mizanur Rahman said law enforcement had been deployed since 5 a.m. at critical points of the upazila and municipality to keep traffic flowing. He assured that the administration is taking maximum steps to minimize public suffering and ensure the safety of lives and property.
Highway Police Officer-in-Charge Rokibuzzaman also confirmed that vehicular movement on the highway was mostly normal in the morning.
The protest stems from a September 4 Election Commission gazette that redefined the boundaries of Faridpur-4 constituency (Bhanga-Sadar upazila-Charbhadrasan) by moving Hamirdi and Algi unions to Faridpur-2 constituency. Residents launched their movement on September 5 demanding the two unions be returned to Faridpur-4.
