Dhaka, Dec. 7 -- Mobile phone traders have blocked the road in front of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) headquarters in Dhaka to protest the government's decision to deactivate unregistered handsets.

Several hundred traders and their employees gathered outside the BTRC building in Agargaon on Sunday under the banner of "Mobile Business Community Bangladesh."

They later moved onto the road, bringing traffic to a halt on one side of the Shishu Mela-Agargaon route.

Inspector Masud Rana of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station said traffic remained normal in the opposite lane but movement towards Agargaon had stalled.

The blockade was still in place at 1pm.

Police also closed one side of the road at the nearby ...