Employees of Chattogram port today announced they will resume indefinite work stoppage from Sunday, accusing the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) of backtracking on dialogue by seeking travel bans and asset probes against protest leaders.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Chattogram Bandar Rokkha Sangram Parishad held at a club near Port Colony in the evening.

Following the meeting, agitating employees marched onto the road near Port Colony and burned an effigy of the CPA chairman at around 8:00pm.

“Workers had postponed their earlier strike after the shipping adviser assured them after a meeting that their demands would be addressed. For the sake of the country, the port and the business community, and considering people’s suffering ahead of Ramadan, we halted the strike,” Chattogram Bandar Rokkha Sangram Coordinator Md Ibrahim Khokan told The Daily Star.

“We trusted that the government would respond positively so that we would not have to go for tougher movements again. However, within hours of the meeting, CPA issued a letter to several government agencies, including the Anti-Corruption Commission, seeking to impose overseas travel bans and launch asset probes against 15 protesters, branding them as anti-state and criminals. By issuing such a letter immediately after negotiations, CPA Chairman M Moniruzzaman has instigated and sparked fresh anger among port employees,” he said.

Under such circumstances, the workers saw no alternative but to resume the indefinite work abstention from Sunday, Khokan added.

The port had remained tense throughout the day as employees awaited the outcome of talks, while port users and businesses expressed concern over possible disruptions if operations are halted again.