Indian truckers protest, demand curb of Bhutanese truck access to B'desh

'LIVELIHOOD OF ABOUT 60,000 TO 65,000 PEOPLE IS NOW AT RISK'

- SANCHITA AICH BAG

SILIGURI: A protest erupted at the India-Bangladesh border in Fulbari near Siliguri as Indian truck drivers and owners launched an indefinite hunger strike, demanding the restriction of Bhutanese vehicles from transporting goods to Bangladesh through the India-Bangladesh border.

On Monday, four organisations — Fulbari-II Border Local Truck Owners Welfare Association, Fulbari Exporters Association, Fulbari Drivers Association and Fulbari C&F Association — joined forces to block the border in protest. They demanded that Bhutanese trucks unload their goods at Fulbari, from where Indian trucks would carry the cargo to Bangladesh. Protesters staged a sit-in, physically blocking Bhutanese trucks and initiated a hunger strike to the death to press for their demands.