No crossing point for 2 months; man lends ladder to passengers for Tk5, gets arrested

A youth was arrested on Sunday (17 March) after a video of him went viral on social media where he could be seen lending ladders to bus passengers in exchange for Tk5 on a highway in Narayanganj.

AKM Sharifuddin, In charge of Kanchpur Highway Shimla Police Camp, said they arrested him after watching the viral video.

Risky road crossing had become a common scene in the 3.3 km area for the past two months as there were no crossing points from the long-distance route's road to the regional road which is at least 24 minutes walking distance.

For the past two months, the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) authority has kept the crossing point at Dhaka-bound road from Kanchpur Bridge in Siddhirganj to Kuwait Plaza area closed. As a result, passengers have been crossing roads by jumping the lane's divider.

According to the Roads and Highways Department (RHD), the four-lane Dhaka-bound road from Kanchpur Bridge in Siddhirganj to Kuwait Plaza area was divided into two lanes with high dividers to stop risky road crossing and to ensure long-distance vehicles' direct route to Dhaka.

A gate was kept open in front of the RHD office for the movement of passengers from long-distance lanes to regional lanes, but the RHD authorities closed it two months ago.

Narayanganj RHD's Executive Engineer Shahana Ferdous said, they tried several times to enforce the movement of bus services in the designated service line with Highway Police, but they failed to enforce it.