The probe committee investigating the accident that killed veteran journalist Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury were given seven more days as both the committee and police have failed to identify the killer bus or its driver.
Mohammad Iqbal, officer-in-charge of Kalabagan police station where a case was filed in this connection, said: “Our investigation is going on, and we hope to detain the driver and find the bus.”
The accident took place at Kawran Bazar on the night of November 29.
The committee requested the Road Transport and Highways Division for a seven-day extension, which was granted yesterday, sources at the division told the Dhaka Tribune.
Asked about the progress of the investigation, Moshiar Rahman, director of administration at Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) and head of the committee, told the Dhaka Tribune: “We have taken testimonies of a few witnesses and also held a few meetings in this regard.
But when asked about the findings from the testimonies, he refused to answer and said: “We need more time.”
When asked about the extension, MAN Siddique, secretary at the Road Transport and Highways Division, told the Dhaka Tribune: “At first, the ministry gave the committee three days to submit a report on this accident, which was later received a seven-day extension. But they were unable to identify the driver and the bus in that time. So they were given another seven-day extension.”
Shyamal Dutta, editor of the Daily Bhorer Kagoj and a member of the probe committee, said the committee had published a notice in newspapers on December 2 and December 3, asking witnesses to appear before the committee or at the BRTA office to give their accounts of the accident, but no one showed up.
Another circular would be published tomorrow in this regard, and the witnesses who came forward to testify would be rewarded by the late journalist’s family, Shyamal told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
The identities of the witnesses would not be disclosed, he added.
The other members of the committee Imtiaz Ahmed, deputy commissioner of the Traffic Division (north) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Nahmudul Hasan, urban planner at Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority, and Khandakar Mahbubur Rahman, traffic control officer at Dhaka North City Corporation.
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader announced the formation of the probe committee during the inauguration of traffic awareness campaign at Manik Mia Avenue in Dhaka on November 30.
He said: “The nation has suffered an irrevocable loss with the demise of Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury. We have ensure punishment of the person responsible for this.”
