Lingering curfew panics stranded travellers

Tanmoy Roy from Panchagarh found himself trapped in the capital city after he arrived here on Thursday morning for a recruitment exam the following day.
The exam for upazila-level posts under the Ministry of Agriculture was eventually cancelled as violence intensified that day, with clashes between members of the Chhatra League, police and anti-quota student protesters.
The sudden announcement of curfew enforced by the government since Friday midnight came as a shock to the 25-year-old, with his cash running out and uncertainties about how to return home.
Thousands of people have been unable to get back to or leave the capital city, the hub of all economic and administrative activities of the country, for arson, vandalism and protests at the major entry and exit points of the city before and after the imposition of curfew. At least 135 people, including students, journalists and policemen, had reportedly been killed in the past three days.
"I don't have any close relatives here. I don't know for how many days I have to stay here and I am panicking," said a helpless Tonmoy over the phone from a hotel in Mohammadpur.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Sunday said the curfew would be extended until normalcy was restored.
Despite the restriction on movements, many people went to launch and bus terminals in desperation.
Mohammad Salam, who lives in Segunbagicha in Dhaka, had urgent personal matters to attend to in his village home in Barishal. He went to Sadarghat launch terminal from Saydabad bus terminal on Sunday, looking for a way to travel to Barishal but to no avail.
"The Internet blackout is making things worse. I am unable to find a solution."
The number of travellers to and from the capital city and across the country is hard to come by.
Talking to The FE, Faruq Talukder Sohel, owner of Shohag Paribahan, said the company itself runs 150 long-distance buses and all of them were sitting idle amid the curfew.
"Buses ran until Thursday night. But no buses entered or left Dhaka in the last three days to Sunday."
Similarly, operations of trains and launches to and from Dhaka remained suspended in the three days to Sunday.
In urgent cases, people were arranging private vehicles, braving the risks.
Of them were Mohammad Shetap and his wife, passengers of Dhaka-bound Moytri Express, who reached Dhaka from Kolkata almost 30 hours late on Saturday morning. They visited India for medical reasons.
They rode a private car from the train station to South Budda in the capital defying the curfew, as policemen, members of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and the Bangladesh Army were patrolling the city streets at different points.

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