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Published : 28 Nov 2025, 05:25 PM
Dhaka residents from Bhola have left Shahbagh intersection after giving the government 72 hours to act on the Barishal-Bhola bridge construction.
They demonstrated for nearly three hours from Friday afternoon, demanding the bridge and other related measures.
Shahbagh Police Inspector Ibrahim Hossain Sohel said the protesters left the road at 6:30pm. Traffic in the area returned to normal soon after.
Earlier, around 3:45pm, the demonstrators had occupied the intersection, bringing traffic to a halt.
Additional police personnel were deployed at the site, and officers tried to clear the blockade, but the protesters remained resolute.
A protester, identified only as Sharif, gave the interim government a 72-hour deadline to meet their demands and urged everyone to vacate the road “peacefully”.
He warned that if no action is taken within this window, they will consider shutting down electricity supply from Bhola along with launching “tougher” programmes.
Residents from Bhola have been holding programmes in Dhaka and in the district for weeks to press for the bridge.
As part of this campaign, several hundred people gathered at Shahbagh with banners and festoons.
They also demanded a public university in Bhola and gas connections to households.
On Nov 14, a group of students blocked a convoy carrying three advisors to the interim government during their visit to Bhola. They did so by lying down in front of the vehicles near the local deputy commissioner's office.
The protesters, under the banner of “Amra-Bholabasi” (We Are Bhola Residents) organisation blocked Power and Energy Advisor Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, Industry Advisor Adilur Rahman Khan, and Commerce Advisor Sheikh Bashir Uddin for at least 20 minutes that day.
At the time, the protesters said they had recently met Sheikh Moinuddin, special assistant to the chief advisor, and Power Advisor Fouzul regarding their five-point list of demands, which they had pushed for in Bhola for a long time.
The meeting had concluded with an announcement that the construction of the Bhola-Barishal bridge would begin in December.
But on Nov 14, Fouzul said the design work on the bridge project had yet to start and was still stuck at the policy division level. The announcement angered protesters and prompted the blocking of the convoy.
That same day, 17 students who participated in the Long March from Bhola to Dhaka's Setu Bhaban swam across the Tentulia River and reached Barishal. One of them fell ill during the long swim.
The five points the protesters are pushing for are: visible progress in the construction of the Bhola-Barishal bridge, gas connections to every house in Bhola through pipelines, the establishment of gas-based industries and factories, the establishment of a public university and the construction of sustainable embankments.
