Dhaka: The Eid exodus gained the highest momentum from Thursday afternoon, as tens of thousands of home-goers left the capital, having attended work on the last working day before the festival.

The city’s bus, ferry and railway stations experienced the main rush of homebound passengers a day before the start of the three-day Eid holiday.

According to Dhaka Metropolitan Police, some four million Eid holidaymakers are leaving Dhaka for their native villages on Thursday and Friday to celebrate the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr with their near and dear ones.

‘As per the information we have so far, around 7-8 million people or half the city’s total population will leave Dhaka on the occasion of the Eid festival,’ said Deputy Commissioner (Media) of the Dhaka Metropolitan (DMP) Muntasirul Islam.

Of them, more than four million city dwellers already left from Monday to Wednesday. The remaining 30-35 lakh people are making frantic efforts to reach their respective destinations on the two days -Thursday and Friday, he added.

The Eid holidaymakers are leaving Dhaka for their respective destinations with some worries over returning to the city safely and on time at the end of their holidays.

Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest religious festival of the Muslims, will be celebrated in the country either on Saturday or Sunday, subject to the sighting of the Shawal moon after a month of fasting.

The DMP DC said both plainclothes and uniformed police have been performing their duties round the clock at all bus and ferry terminals and railway stations to check the nefarious activities ‘Malam party’, ‘Agyan party’ as well as other criminals, to ensure hassle-free journeys for the holidaymakers.

Police and Rab have already set up control rooms in all bus and launch terminals and railway stations so that they can take immediate measures in case of any trouble.

Besides, Muntasir said area-based security measures will be taken during the Eid vacation as half the city dwellers will be staying out of the capital city. Patrols around the city will be strengthened alongside random searches by setting up check-posts.  

Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Haque and DMP commissioner Asaduzzaman Miah visited Gabtoli and Mohakhali bus terminals on Thursday noon to monitor the situations.

Most advance train and bus tickets have already been sold out. Homebound passengers are being charged higher fares than usual, as operators take undue advantage of the huge demand for tickets.

Masum Billah, a student of Titumir College who was at Saidabad bus terminal said he bought two tickets for himself and his sister from Dhaka Express to go to Noakhali, for which he was charged Tk 600 each, against the normal fare of Tk 350.

Rajshahi-bound Silk City Express and Rajshahi Express trains were seen jam-packed with holidaymakers while leaving the Kamalapur railway station around 3pm and 3:30pm on Thursday.

Many passengers were seen thronging the rooftop of Rajshahi Express, defying the calls of the security men. Ansar men beat the passengers on the rooftop, but failed to bring them down.

Some passengers complained of failing to get on trains despite having tickets due to the huge crowd.