Tourists will not have to pay any fee for the next seven days to visit Sylhet's popular hangout Jaflong. Sylhet Deputy Commissioner Mozibor Rahman said this Thursday evening after some volunteers working for the administration assaulted tourists who visited the spot in Gowainghat at 2pm. The incident occurred in front of the ticket counter at the tourist spot. "As the group of tourists wanted to enter Jaflong without tickets, they got into an argument with the volunteers at the counter. At one point, some volunteers attacked the tourists with sticks," said Gowainghat Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Tahlimur Rahman. "This incident will hurt our tourism and as the assaulters were employed by us, I take responsibility for this. Three of them have already been sacked and I asked the police to take legal action against them." The video of the incident has gone viral on social media. It shows some men wearing blue volunteer uniforms assaulting a group of tourists with sticks. Some women, from the same group of tourists, also came under attack as they had tried to stop the violence. "We have detained five people, including two volunteers, who were involved in the incident. Legal action will be taken against them. Additional police forces have been deployed at the tourist spot," said Sylhet Superintendent of Police Mohammad Farid Uddin. Also read: Volunteers assault tourists in Sylhet, 5 held

After a gap of nearly five months, tourist places in Bangladesh finally reopened on Thursday. The move comes days after the Bangladesh government had eased Covid-19 lockdown restrictions on the movement of public transport services. However, people will not be allowed to enter the tourist spots without face masks and everyone will have to follow all Covid-safety protocols, as per a government order. Read:Bangladesh allows resumption of all public transport services from Aug 19 In Rangamati, locals heaved a sigh of relief as they got the opportunity to restart their livelihoods with the reopening of hotels, motels, restaurants and tourist spots in the district. Local people dependent on the tourists said they would be able to overcome the losses caused by the closure. As per an estimate of the Rangamati Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the tour operators suffered a cumulative loss of Tk 2.15 crore. Pre-lockdown, Rangamati Hanging Bridge, Polwell Park, Rangamati Sishu Park, Happy Island, Subolong Fountain, Echo Village and all other tourist sports remained abuzz with tourists the entire year.