Vehicles fined, sued for fitness issues, speeding on Dhaka-Mawa expressway

Law enforcement agencies have conducted an overnight raid on the Dhaka-Mawa expressway, filing 50 cases against vehicles for lacking fitness certificates, licences, or engaging in reckless driving.

The operation also led to fines totalling Tk2 lakh, while four buses and one motorcycle were impounded for missing proper documentation.

The raid was carried out from Friday midnight till 4am today by a joint team comprising the Highway Police, Rapid Action Battalion, and local police stations.

The operation started at Dhaleshwari Toll Plaza in South Keraniganj, Dhaka, and extended to Mawa in Munshiganj.

Confirming the details, Hashara Highway Police Station Officer-in-Charge Abdur Kader Zilani said the drive began at midnight, led by Highway Police Additional DIG AKM Akhtaruzzaman Basunia, and ended at 4am.

During the operation, four buses of Shyamoli Paribahan, Ena, Hanif, and Antara, and a motorcycle were impounded. Arrangements were made to transport bus passengers to their destinations using other vehicles.

This operation follows a tragic accident on the same expressway on 27 December, when a bus crushed three vehicles at the Dhaleshwari Toll Plaza, killing six people, including four members of a family.

The incident, which occurred at 11:06am, was captured on the plaza's CCTV camera. Footage showed that the Bepari Paribahan bus first struck a car, crushing it entirely, then rear-ended a microbus and ran over a motorcycle.

Three victims, including a child, died on the spot, while the others succumbed to their injuries during transport to Dhaka or at the hospital.

Police later confirmed that the Bepari Paribahan bus lacked a fitness certificate, and its driver, despite having experience, had been driving without a valid licence for two years. The bus was impounded, and the driver was later arrested.

In the past few days, several other collisions between vehicles on the same expressway also claimed multiple lives and injured many.

According to the Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity (BJKS), road accidents in the past 11 years have claimed over 1,05,000 lives and injured around 1,50,000 people across the country.

In its latest report published today, BJKS said that 8,543 people lost their lives in 6,359 road accidents across the country in 2024. The accidents also injured 12,608.

Authorities say the joint operation is part of an ongoing effort to address such tragedies by ensuring compliance with traffic laws and reducing reckless driving.