Reckless driving costs two lives

A recklessly driven car ploughed into three women sleeping on a footpath in front of the Supreme Court and killed two of them and injured the other early yesterday.

The vehicle which was at speed also hit the fence of the SC, damaging a portion of the fence around 12:15am.

Police said they arrested private university student Shaon Bepari, 25, from the car. The driver and the owner, who was also in the car at that time, fled the scene.

The deceased are Shahera Begum, 45, and Hasina, 35, police said. 

The injured, Tahera Begum, 50, was undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

The incident happened at a time when there is a growing concern over rash driving by some people, who are either high on drugs, or drunk, or in an illegal street race.  

For example, a recent car crash near the city's Banani Flyover left a man seriously injured. The vehicle, which had flipped over, was racing another car.

Part of the court's boundary railing was damaged in the incident. Photo: Star

A day after this year's Eid-ul-Azha, a rashly driven car crushed an elderly couple dead in the capital's Shewrapara. Several bottles of liquor were found inside the car.

In another incident last year, a teenage driver badly injured four pedestrians in Gulshan when he was racing another car. He was reportedly drunk.

Inspector (investigation) Jafar Ali Biswas of Shahbagh Police Station said police were investigating whether the driver was at the wheel when the incident happened and whether anyone of them was drunk.

He said the car was heading towards Matsya Bhaban. Police went to the spot and sent the injured to the DMCH.

Doctors declared Hasina dead on arrival while Shahera died there later, said Shahbagh police.

Jafar said they seized the car.

The police official, quoting arrestee Shaon, said the car started its journey from Aganagar of Keraniganj and was heading for Green Road.

He added that during primary interrogation of Shaon, police learnt that the owner of the car is one Rezaul Karim Shyamol, a businessman of Keraniganj.

Rezaul and Shaon, who are friends, were going to the house of a friend, the inspector said.

Police also came to know that the name of the car driver is Shifat Islam, 26. 

Relatives of Shaon, however, told The Daily Star that alongside studying at a private university, he also runs a business in Keraniganj. He was returning home from his shop at Aganagar last night when Rezaul picked him up to go “sightseeing”.

Tutul Miah, son of deceased Shahera, said his mother had been living with her family in Kamrangirchar area for several years.

“She used to sell flowers on the streets. For this reason, when it becomes too late at night to go home, she used to sleep with other flower vendors on the footpath,” Tutul, a father of two, told this correspondent.

DMC morgue sources said the body of Shahera was handed over to Tutul after an autopsy.

The body of Hasina was at the morgue as of yesterday evening, as no one came to claim it, added morgue sources. 

Tutul filed a case against four people, including the car owner and the driver, in connection with the incident with Shahbagh Police Station yesterday night.