Bangladesh Chhatra League activists of Mirpur Bangla College allegedly seized eight buses of New Pallabi Express over “toll" on Wednesday and demanded Tk five lakh from the bus authorities for their release.

The buses, which ply the Gabtoli-Abdullahpur route, were released from the college campus by police later that day.

Sirajul Haque, director (finance) of New Pallabi Express, told this correspondent that they introduced 30 buses on the Gabtoli-Bangla College-Mirpur 10-Kalshi-Abdullahpur route in October this year.

A few days after the buses started operating on the route, BCL leaders of the college unit demanded Tk 6,000 per day from the owners and threatened us with stopping the bus service if their demand was not met, he said.

Sirajul mentioned that they settled

on giving Tk 3,000 per day and had been paying the toll regularly. But they stopped paying a week ago when local Awami League and Jubo League leaders advised them not to pay. "We stopped paying as per their advice," he said.

After they stopped paying, Mujibur Rahman Anik, general secretary of BCL's Mirpur Bangla College unit, started pressing the owners for resuming the payment. "All bus operators pay us regularly," Sirajul quoted the student leader as say ing.

The BCL leaders had been repeatedly issuing threats for the toll for the last one week, he added.

Around 1:00pm on Wednesday, Sirajul came to know that some BCL activists took eight of their buses to the college campus.

He then asked the staffs at Gabtoli and Abdullahpur counters to suspend the service. They, however, resumed the bus service yesterday. "A person claiming to be a BCL leader called him over the phone in the afternoon and demanded Tk five lakh for the release of the buses or else they would set them on fire," Sirajul said.

Later in the evening, Sirajul informed Darus Salam police of the matter. Police went to the college and retrieved the buses at 7:00pm.

"We are preparing to file a case," Sirajul said. He also added that the BCL leaders were threatening them with consequences if they lodged a case.

Sirajul claimed that police advised them to reach a compromise with the leaders to avoid problems.

Rafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Darus Salam police station, said they

got the buses released from the college campus. No case had been filed in this connection and none was arrested, he added.

Police, however, claimed that neither the bus owners nor the BCL leaders said anything about the toll.

Anik, however, denied the allegation of extortion and claimed that students took the buses inside the campus as a staff of the transport company injured a student while pushing him out of the bus in front of the collegegate.

" President of the college unit of BCL Jahid and I were out of the campus during the incident," he said, adding that they rushed there after being informed of the matter by police.