In a protest against plans to privatise oil distribution firms, about 10,000 lorry and tanker operators went on strike on Saturday, halting supplies of petroleum products from depots to filling stations.
The government said last month it planned to privatise by the end of this month all three oil distribution firms as well as a plant for Liquefied Petroleum Gas and a lubricants blending plant, Standard Asiatic Oil Company Ltd, which is run by Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC).
"We will continue the strike for an indefinite period until the government scarps the privatisation plan," said Haji Yakoob Ali, chief of the Council for Workers and Employees of the Oil and Gas Sector.