Modi travels, commuters suffer

Police in Dhaka have restricted traffic on several streets without prior notice to ensure secure movement for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But commuters in the Bangladesh capital have suffered as snarls piled up in places and vehicles failed to move smoothly. Bangladesh security agencies are taking no chances as Modi appears to be on the hit list of several radical Islamist groups including the Al-Qaeda in Indian Sub-continent (AQIS). Modi reached Dhaka at 10:08am on Saturday and went to the National Memorial at Savar to pay respects to the Liberation War martyrs. He then went to Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi to pay homage to Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. His motorcade left the museum around 12:30pm for Pan Pacific Sonargaon Dhaka Hotel. The Gabtoli-Dhanmondi-Karwan Bazar road and other streets criss-crossing it suffered huge traffic snarls during the movement of the Indian Prime Minister's convoy. Traffic was stopped in these roads without prior notice. Passengers were seen sweating in vehicles on the Manik Mia Avenue, and the streets from Agargaon-Khamarbarhi and Mohakhali-Shahbagh. The traffic congestion spread to the streets leading to these main roads. The street from Bangla Motor to Malibagh also suffered a huge gridlock. It got better when Modi entered the hotel around 1pm. He is scheduled to meet his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina at her office at 4:15pm and return to the hotel at Karwan Bazar in the evening. On Sunday, he will visit the Dhakeshwari temple at Bakshi Bazar and Bangabhaban. He will also visit the Indian High Commission in Dhaka at Gulshan. Before leaving on Sunday night, he will deliver a speech at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, according to bdnews24.com.