The export of boulders from Bhutan into Bangladesh through the India-Bangladesh border at Fulbari near here was disrupted for over five hours on Monday when Indian transporters, exporters, agents and drivers launched a blockade at the border.

Over 100 persons, mostly representatives of four associations of truck owners and drivers, along with family members of some of them, held a sit-in demonstration, alleging that in the past three months, they could not send boulders to Bangladesh from India through the border.

In the past seven days, this is the second time that they have resorted to such a protest.

“For almost three months, we have been sitting idle as we could not ferry boulders to Bangladesh. On the other hand, hundreds of trucks from Bhutan are carrying boulders every day, using the border. This cannot go on,” said Suvankar Naskar, the former secretary of the Fulbari Truck Owners Welfare Association (FTOWA).

After the deterioration of the bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh, the import of boulders has stopped from India, as Bangladesh is buying boulders only from Bhutan. The decision has hit hard around 1,500 truck owners who used to send boulders to Bangladesh through Fulbari.

“Our earnings have dried up. These days, we are finding it tough to run the families. On June 17, we held a similar protest, and the Siliguri mayor (Gautam Deb) and administrative officials of Jalpaiguri assured us that the issue would be taken care of. However, there has been no change in the situation, which is why we launched the protests again,” Naskar added.

Trucks from Bhutan were stuck on the Indian side at Fulbari because of the protest on Monday. A large police contingent from the New Jalpaiguri police station reached the spot.

Along with FTOWA, members of the Fulbari Drivers Association, the Fulbari Exporters Association and the Fulbari C & F Association joined the blockade that started at 8am.

Around 12.30pm, the police asked the demonstrators to disperse, but they refused.

The police detained around 80 of the agitators and took them to the NJP police station in vehicles.

Around 1pm, vehicular movement resumed through the border. “We are keeping a close watch over the situation,” said a police officer.