Police teargas anti-eviction protesters to free up Dhaka-Chattogram Highway

Locals occupy the busiest highway for over four hours to protest against an eviction drive in Jungle Salimpur

Angry locals have occupied the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway in protest against the administration’s drive to evict illegal settlements in the Jungle Salimpur area near the Bayezid Link Road in Chattogram.

Thousands of people blocked the Faujdarhat intersection of the country's busiest highway near the Bangladesh Institute of Tropical and Infectious Disease around 1:15pm on Tuesday, causing a massive tailback.

They later clashed with police who used teargas to drive them away. Traffic flow became normal around 5pm.

Demanding that they be awarded ownership of the land, the protesters asked authorities to restore the electricity supply to the evicted settlements in the Jungle Salimpur area.

The eviction is part of a government plan to build a prison, sports facility, cricket stadium, mosque, safari park and other establishments there.

The protesters initially poured onto the streets near the port city’s Asian University for Women at noon before moving to the Faujdarhat area.

They blocked one side of the highway, halting the flow of Dhaka and Chattogram-bound traffic.

Law enforcers and senior government officials went to the scene immediately after the locals launched the protests. Sitakunda Upazila Nirbahi Officer Shahadat Hossain spoke to the angry locals and urged them to lift the blockade. Ashraful Karim, additional superintendent of police (Sitakunda Circle), also tried to talk the protesters out of it.

Local MP Didarul Alam, however, found himself stuck in traffic on his way to the scene of the protest, his spokesperson said.

As the protesters refused to leave the highway, police tried to chase them away, leading to clashes. Witnesses said local activists of the Bangladesh Chhatra League fought with police during the clashes.

The protesters threw brickbats at police and both sides fought pitched battles.

Police later fired teargas to stay on top of the situation.