Ride-sharing biker held, pickup driver still on the run
Police have detained Suman, 23, the biker working for a ride-sharing service, from whose motorbike Brac University student Fahmida Haque Labannya fell before being run over by a pickup on Thursday.
The pickup and its driver are yet to be traced, however.
Suman was held from Nabinagar Housing in the capital’s Mohammadpur around 1:25am yesterday, said Biplob Kumar Sarker, deputy commissioner (Tejgaon Division) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, adding that his bike was also seized.
A case was filed with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station in this connection. However, Suman was not yet shown arrested in the case filed by the victim’s father.
In primary interrogation, Suman said that Labannya took the fatal ride from Shyamoli around 10:36am on Thursday, to go to Khilgaon. A jaywalker suddenly appeared in front of the bike, trying to cross the road near National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, prompting him to brake, he said.
Due to sudden brake, Labannya fell off the bike and a pickup ran her over, the police official said quoting the biker. Doctors declared her dead after passers-by took her to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital.
“We are now verifying statements of the biker and investigating whether he was responsible. We are trying to arrest the driver of the pickup as well,” he added.
Suman is now undergoing treatment at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital under police custody.
Jane Alam Munshi, officer-in-charge of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station, said they have collected some CCTV footage, but they are not clear enough to identify the vehicle and its driver responsible for the incident.
“We are looking for more footage of the area,” the OC added.
Labannya was a third-year student of computer science and engineering at Brac University.
The accident happened just a month after the death of university student Abrar Ahmed in a road crash that triggered mass protests over unsafe roads and poor traffic management.
PROTEST DEMANDING SAFE ROADS
A group of students from Brac University and Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University formed a human chain around 3pm yesterday in front of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital demanding safe roads.
With placards, students wanted to know how much time the authorities would need to ensure safer roads and better traffic management.
The students said deaths of young lives on the road are not acceptable at all and the government must ensure safe roads for all.
They also demanded bringing the persons responsible under speedy tribunal.
“We heard that the biker was held. Now the pickup driver should be booked as soon as possible to deliver justice,” said a Brac University student.
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