Traders protesting the closure of the ‘at risk’ Gulshan Shopping Centre have clashed with police as they blocked the Gulshan-1 intersection in Dhaka.
An executive magistrate from the Dhaka North City Corporation went to the complex and sealed it around 11:30 am on Thursday.
The traders then took to the streets in protest. At one point, they blocked the Gulshan-1 intersection with cement blocks, interrupting traffic on the thoroughfare and leading to congestion on all sides of the intersection.
The clashes began when police attempted to remove them from the area at 3:30 pm. The protesters hurled volleys of brickbats at law enforcers.
The situation began to normalise around 4 pm after police dispersed the protesters, according to Assistant Commissioner Mostafizur Rahman of Gulshan Traffic Division.
"The traffic flow is now back to normal. We are allowing vehicles [at the intersection] to travel in all four directions. There are no further issues," he said.
