Bangladesh
Sajek tourist travel suspended as indefinite road blockade returns
Rangamati authorities have suspended tourist travel to Sajek as two local organisations resume an indefinite road blockade from 6am on 22 October. Organisers say their demands remain unmet after a Durga Puja pause. JSS denies their allegations of intimidation, while emergency services are to remain exempt.
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From 22 October 2026 — Daily Brief
22 OCT 2026 · 6/25
Tourist travel to Sajek Valley has been suspended after two local organisations announced an indefinite road blockade beginning at 6am on 22 October. Rangamati’s district administration issued the suspension notice on the evening of 21 October.
The Sajek Gano Odhikar Rokkha Committee and Sajek Karbari Association said their three demands remained unmet. They had paused the blockade from 16 to 21 October for Durga Puja and asked visitors to leave before the programme resumed.
One demand concerns the withdrawal of alleged armed members of the Jana Samhati Samiti faction led by Santu Larma. The organisers accuse the group of threatening local residents. JSS has denied the allegations; its publicity secretary, Sajib Chakma, instead accused rival UPDF members of coercing residents and the protest organisations.
The first blockade began on 11 October and was briefly suspended following administrative assurances. Protesters resumed it on 15 October before the festival break.
The organisers said ambulances, fire-service vehicles, hearses, emergency medicine and newspaper deliveries, and journalists’ vehicles on assignment would be exempt. The travel restriction adds another disruption for visitors and businesses in the hill destination, with no reopening date announced in the notice.