Dhaka metro-rail company was forced to operate the metro rail for one and a half hours almost without station staffers on Monday following an unscheduled strike called by the latter in protest against assaults on their colleagues. Employees of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) called the strike as per a Monday early morning decision to protest against verbal and physical assaults on two of their colleagues - a customer relation assistant and an excess fare officer - by Armed Police Battalion (APBn) members on Sunday evening.
Officials said after closing two APBn members over the incident, full operations of the mass rapid transit line-6 (MRT-6) were restored as all staffers resumed work at around 9am.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges formed a three-member committee, with a joint secretary as the convener, to investigate the unwanted incident and submit a report within the next three days.
According to a press release issued by all officials and employees of DMTCL, APBn members verbally and physically assaulted two staffers of the company over an incident that occurred on Sunday evening. The press release was issued without any specific name and signature.
The conflict arose when a customer relation assistant charged two plain-clothed females at around 5:15pm while they were trying to come through the swing gate bypassing the payment gate at the Secretariat station.
Later, two APBn members came to the spot and locked into a dispute with an excess fare officer. They also hit the excess fare officer with a gun bayonet over the issue of using the same gate.
The agitating DMTCL officials and employees also demanded punishment for the APBn members involved in creating the incident and the formation of a dedicated MRT security force for the safety of the company's staff and passengers.
Besides, they demanded the withdrawal of MRT Police immediately and proper treatment of the two assaulted staffers.
When asked about operating metro rail amid the strike, DMTCL Managing Director Faruque Ahmed said they had decided to continue operations to avoid people's sufferings.
He, however, denied the scope for lack of security to operate trains. He also said due to a lack of enough staffers at stations, some passengers took advantage of riding trains for free without swiping cards.
"There were some isolated cases of passengers crossing the doors at some stations without using cards," he told The Financial Express over the phone.
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