Students take to streets over road safety again
The protest comes a day after a 10th grader of Government Science High School and College died as a bus rammed into him in front of BG Press in Tejgaon
Students of the Government Science High School and College took to the streets in demand of safe roads on Monday following the death of one of their peers in a road accident.
Md Ali Hossain, a 10th grader, was killed after a microbus rammed into him in front of the Tejgaon BG Press on Sunday.
Ali was trying to cross the road at the time. Although there is a footover bridge a few yards from the Bangladesh Government (BG) Press Building, gaps for pedestrians in the central reservation without any zebra crossing often leads to pedestrians choosing the road to cross.
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Around 11:50am on Monday, students gathered on both sides of the road in front of the police box in the Farmgate area of the capital, allowing cars to pass.
The students shouting slogans demanding justice and safe roads.
"How many lives have to be lost before the roads are safe?" they chanted. "My brother is in the grave. Why is the killer free? The administration must answer."
Slogans rang out throughout the area. Police members observed the proceedings.
Imam Hossain Bayjid, a student, said, "Our friend got hit by a microbus while he was coming to school yesterday. The administration is yet to identify the driver. We want proper punishment for the murderer and we want safe roads."
Addressing the students, Tejgaon Division Additional Superintendent Rubaiyat Zaman said, "We have seized the microbus and arrested the driver. Please do not create a public nuisance."
Protesting students moved from Farmgate towards Bijoy Sarani, before returning to Farmgate again.
"School student Ali Hossain, 17, was killed as a microbus rammed into him in front of Tejgaon BG Press," Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) Police Outpost In-Charge Bachchu Mia told The Business Standard.
He was taken to the Samorita Hospital in critical condition. After his condition worsened, he was brought to the emergency department of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
He was the eldest son of Md Azmi and lived with his family in the Kunipara area of Tejgaon.
Police have arrested the driver reportedly responsible for the death.
Ziaul Haque, 50, was arrested from Ashulia on Monday and the microbus involved in the accident was also seized, confirmed HM Azimul Haque, deputy commissioner (DC) at Dhaka Metropolitan Police Tejgaon division.
Earlier in 2018, from 29 July to 8 August, students led mass protests demanding effective road safety in Bangladesh.
The protests were sparked when two students of the Shaheed Ramiz Uddin Cantonment College, Rajib and Dia, were killed and 10 students injured in a collision between two high-speed buses on the Airport Road of the capital on 29 July, 2018.
