Published : 08 Dec 2025, 12:39 AM
Updated : 21 Aug 2026, 02:51 PM
Thousands of people have been plunged into extreme difficulty as mobile phone traders blocked roads around the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) in Agargaon, bringing traffic to a near standstill.
Access to three major specialised hospitals near the BTRC office -- the children’s hospital, the orthopaedic hospital and the National Institute of Neurosciences -- has become severely restricted, making it difficult for patients to enter or leave.
Around 5pm on Sunday, the front of the neurosciences hospital was completely clogged with traffic. An ambulance stood blaring its siren at the gate but was unable to move.
Its driver, Mohammad Yahia, said the patient inside was meant to be transferred to another hospital, but the traffic jam made it impossible.
Schoolteacher Hosne Ara was returning home in a CNG-run autorickshaw. After sitting stuck for a long time, she got out and began limping forward on foot.
She said she suffers from knee problems and cannot walk properly. She had called her son to come and help her, and was moving ahead as far as she could manage.
Near the passport office, 50 to 60 protesters were blocking the road, with several hundred cars and motorcycles piled up behind them. Bikers repeatedly revved their engines and blasted their horns in frustration, but the traders refused to clear the road.
Army personnel stood shoulder to shoulder outside the BTRC building, alongside police. Protesters crowded into food stalls beside the building, while an even larger number of floating vendors gathered on both sides of the road.
Oil tanker driver Miraj, identified by a single name, said he was supposed to head to Gabtoli in the afternoon but had been stuck there for nearly three hours.
Motorcycles were slipping through gaps, but he could not move his truck. His assistant, identified only as Siyam, had earlier gone to speak with the protesters, who claimed the demonstration would end at 5pm. Even at 5:30pm, however, the road remained blocked.
Drivers and riders reportedly hurled abuse at the protesters, in response to which organisers repeatedly made loudspeaker announcements urging demonstrators not to engage in arguments.
Holding a microphone, one protest leader announced: “We see nothing. We hear nothing. Whatever anyone says, do not get into any physical confrontation.”
Mobile phone traders and their employees began blocking the road in the morning to protest the government’s decision to shut down unauthorised mobile phones.
Under the banner of Mobile Business Community Bangladesh, they blocked one side of the road at about 10:30am, and by 1pm shut down all roads at Agargaon, triggering severe congestion.
The protesters say they have demands, including reforms to parts of the NEIR process, a fair taxation policy, the dismantling of monopolistic syndicates and equal opportunities for all in the interest of free trade.
They allege the government is moving unilaterally to implement NEIR without listening to them.
From the Agargaon intersection to BTRC building, protesters set fire to at least four points. No law enforcers were around.
