The authorities concerned are dawdling in investigating the death of Shahjahanpur Railway Colony boy Jihad as the probe bodies have missed deadlines for submitting reports.
The Railways Ministry and Bangladesh Railway formed two separate probe committees after the four-year-old boy accidentally fell into a 500-foot abandoned pipe while playing with his playmates on December 26 last year. Some volunteers lifted out his body almost 23 hours later when the rescue operation was officially called off.
The Bangladesh Railway committee was supposed to submit its report within 24 hours, and the ministry committee within three days, but neither of the bodies has completed probe to date.
Shahjahanpur police also appear to be progressing sluggishly with the only criminal case lodged in this connection as whereabouts of the two accused still remain unknown.
Railway Senior Sub-assistant Engineer Jahangir Alam was responsible for coordinating operations of AR Traders, the contractor which was working to set up a deep tube well in the area.
Bangladesh Railway suspended Jahangir and blacklisted the contractor for negligence and formed a three-member committee with Dhaka Divisional Railway Engineer Mahmud Hasan as the head.
A day after, when Jihad was pulled out of the pipe, the Railways Ministry formed the other committee. It was a three-member body as well and Deputy Secretary of the ministry Masud Karim was made the chief of it.
Mahmud Hasan told the Dhaka Tribune the investigation was underway and nothing could be said before that ended.
Masud Karim also said the same, emphasising a thorough investigation.
He also said there was no need to ask for more time to complete the probe.
“The report will be submitted once the investigation comes to an end. Before that, we cannot say anything,” added Masud.
Railways Minister Mujibul Haque refused to say anything about this.
Several ministry officials, however, said on condition of anonymity that the state minister for home earlier got into trouble for commenting on the incident and the railways minister was keeping mum to avoid any such hassle.
They also claimed the ministry was not willing to ask the probe body to speed things up as the move would bring the issue back to the spotlight again.
Railway Director General Tafazzal Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune on Thursday the investigation was progressing smoothly and the committees were doing their job accordingly.
He also said he was hopeful that the reports would be submitted soon.
Investigation of the criminal case filed in connection with the incident is also moving at a snail’s pace.
Jihad’s father Nasiruddin Fakir filed the case on December 28 against Abdus Salam, owner of AR Traders, and the suspended railway engineer Jahangir Alam.
Abu Jafor, investigating officer of the case and sub-inspector of Shahjahanpur police station, told the Dhaka Tribune police were trying their best to track down the accused.
“We are doing our best and are hopeful about a positive outcome,” he said.
But police had not contacted the plaintiff since the case was filed.
Nasiruddin also told the Dhaka Tribune that he approached police to get an update on the investigation but they gave him no detailed information, except saying that it was underway.
“It is nothing but the negligence of police which is delaying the investigation. I fear that the accused might never be arrested,” he added.
