Slum dwellers block Airport Road

Transport movement on the Airport Road came to a stop due to protest by evicted shanty dwellers of Karail Slum since 9:00am Thursday.

In face of the protest, the authorities suspended the demolition drive which began on Wednesday when 2,000 structures were brought down.

An hour after a team of Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL) resumed the demolition drive at 8:00am, over 500 people blocked the Gulshan-Mohakhali link road from Wireless Gate to Amtoli, said the duty officer of Gulshan Police Station.

The protesters later rushed to the Airport Road and blocked it at Amtoli intersection near Mohakhali flyover.

Within minutes, hundreds of vehicles lined up on both sides of the busy city thoroughfare.

Gulshan Police Station inspector Nur-e-Alam told that the drive was conducted on Wednesday to free the illegally occupied banks of Gulshan lake in line with a government order.

District administration's executive magistrate Selim Hossian Bhuiyan oversaw the drive when more than one hundred homes had been bulldozed.

Alam said that the removed slum dwellers started their protest against the government move around 9:30am on Thursday.

Alam said that the removed slum dwellers started their protest against the government move around 9:30am on Thursday.

They marched through street from Gulshan and Mohakhali flyover and later blocked the road.

Several hundred men and women took part in the protest, he said.

"We are trying to take the situation under control. We are having talks with them," Alam said.

Meanwhile, the protest disrupted traffic hugely on the busy airport road, Banani, Jahangir Gate, Tejgaon and adjacent areas.

Office goers and HSC candidates faced serious trouble because of the gridlock.