Withdrawal of strike, import-export will continue in Benapole

Import-export trade between Bangladesh and India has resumed through Benapole land port after the indefinite strike was called off.

The import-export will start from Monday (March 7) through Benapole land port. The indefinite strike was called off on Sunday night (March 6).

Earlier, the leaders of the port users' organization called off an indefinite strike called by Benapole port users on Saturday morning demanding various forms of harassment by Benapole Customs, revocation of licenses of two C&F agents and withdrawal of harassment cases.

Sajedur Rahman, general secretary of the Benapole C&F Staff Association, said that on March 2, the customs authorities seized about half a crore rupees’ worth of illegal goods in a truck of denim fabrics imported from India through a bond license (duty free). Despite the direct involvement of the Indian driver in the incident, the driver and the vehicle were not detained and the case and two C&F licenses were temporarily canceled in the name of the C&F representative. The strike was called off in the hope that the C&F staff would resolve the issue after a meeting with the customs authorities, even though they had announced that they would continue protesting until the false charges of harassment were dropped in the name of C&F staff without identifying the real culprits.