BNP’s Rajshahi City unit President Mosaddek Hossain Bulbul claimed that transport workers were enforcing a strike ahead of the party’s rally in the afternoon demanding release of Khaleda Zia.
But transport workers rejected the allegation, saying bus services were halted due to rain. No leader of Rajshahi’s transport workers’ union agreed to speak on record.
Kamal Hossain Robi, a former president of the union, insisted that the services were halted as the number of passengers was low because of rain. He said buses were running on the Rajshahi-Dhaka route.
However, several leaders of the workers’ union, speaking on condition of anonymity, said bus services had never been suspended due to rain in the past.
Bulbul said they had been given permission for the rally, where BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is expected to attend.
“Buses have been suspended to prevent our supporters from joining the rally,” claimed Bulbul.