30 hurt as truckers, RCC toll collectors clash

At least 30 people were injured, some of them critically, in a clash between truck drivers and toll collectors of Rangpur City Corporation (RCC) in Rangpur city Monday afternoon. Abdul Kader Zilani, officer-in-charge of Kotwali Police Station, said toll collectors of the corporation were charging Tk 50 as toll from truck driver Chan Mia when he was driving his vehicle to truck terminal at Babu Khan in the city in the afternoon. At one stage, the toll collectors beat up Chan Mia and his assistant Rabiul Islam as they refused to give them the toll money. As the news of the assault on the driver and helper spread to the terminal, a group of truckers and toll collectors equipped with lethal weapons attacked each other, leaving 30 people, including some toll collectors, injured. Following the clash, hundreds of truckers blocked the Rangpur-Dinajpur highway by placing their vehicles haphazardly halting the road link of Rangpur with Dinajpur, Thakurgaon, Panchagarh and Nilphamari districts. They also demanded arrest of those who attacked the driver and his helper and stop collection of toll from the local trucks. Later, the drivers withdrew their blockade following assurance from police and Rab high officials of getting their demands realized, according to UNB.