Sylhet Correspondent :
The drivers and owners of battery-run three-wheelers went berserk and vandalised over 100 vehicles in different parts of the city on Thursday night following the law enforcers’ drive against the unauthorised vehicles.
Police yesterday arrested eight people and filed a case in this connection against 48 people, said Mohammad Rahamat Ullah, additional deputy commissioner of Sylhet Metropolitan Police.
During the drive, police seized around 100 three-wheelers, known as easy-bikes.
Meanwhile, the sufferings of the city dwellers escalated as the rickshaw pullers and CNG-run auto-rickshaws charged higher fares in absence of easy-bikes.
Protesting the drive, the drivers and owners brought out a procession in the city and held a rally under the banner Sylhet Mohanagar Easybike Samity at Zindabazar on Thursday afternoon.
Later that day, the city mayor called a meeting to discuss the issue at his Kumarpara house around 10:30pm. He told the owners and drivers that BRTA should be consulted first in this regard.
The mayor also said he would call another meeting on Friday after consulting the BRTA.
Around 500 owners and drivers staged agitation in front of the mayor’s house following the mayor’s remarks.
Moments later, the agitating drivers started vandalising trucks, microbuses and private cars at Mirboksh tola, Manik Pir Road, Ambarkhana, and Sobhanighat areas at around 11:30pm which lasted half an hour.
Meanwhile, around 100 truck workers put barricade on the road from Sobhanighat to Roseview hotel point at midnight, protesting the attack on trucks.
Police, however, cleared the road after an hour.
