Rail-road blockade in Brahmanbaria halts trains on Dhaka-Chattogram and Sylhet lines

Local residents have blocked the road and railway wearing shrouds on their heads, demanding the reinstatement of six villages of Akhanda Basudev Union in Brahmanbaria Sadar upazila and protesting what they call a conspiracy to split the Sadar upazila. Train services on the Dhaka-Chattogram and Dhaka-Sylhet railway lines have come to a halt as a result.

From Sunday morning (8 November), they have been demonstrating by blocking the railway at the Kodda cabin area of Sadar upazila and the Akhaura land port road.

Because of the blockade, the movement of several trains on these two important railway lines, including the Parabat, Paryatak Express, Mahanagar and Subarna Express, has become uncertain.

Khairul Alam, officer-in-charge of Brahmanbaria Sadar Police Station, confirmed the matter.

Locals said that in May this year, six villages of Basudev Union in Brahmanbaria Sadar upazila — Kodda, Baishnabpur, Shyamnagar, Korabari, Chandi and Barishal — were split off to form a new union parishad named Barishal, which was attached to Akhaura upazila. A gazette on the matter was published on 4 June that year.

Residents of Basudev Union have been protesting this decision from the beginning, but there has been no resolution.

Instead, a proposal was recently made to split off three unions of Sadar upazila — Basudev, Sultanpur and Ramrail — and merge them with the Barishal Union attached to Akhaura upazila to form a new upazila named ‘Barishal’.

According to the locals, district BNP leader Kabir Ahmed Bhuiyan is behind this proposal. Following his application, the Local Government Division recently sent an official letter to examine its feasibility. After the matter came to light, local residents erupted in anger.

Khairul Alam, officer-in-charge of Brahmanbaria Sadar Police Station, said police reached the scene after receiving news of the blockade and are on duty to ensure that no harm comes to life or property.

With train services halted on the Dhaka-Chattogram and Dhaka-Sylhet lines, travel for passengers on these routes has been disrupted.

The movement by residents of Basudev Union demanding the reinstatement of the six villages continues, and train services on the railway remain halted because of the blockade.