Paloma

A bus owner, who appeared before a High Court bench yesterday following its summons, was handed over to police by the court as one of his 'unfit' buses crushed a schoolgirl to death in the capital early this month.
As per the court order, Ashiquzzaman, a sub-inspector of Kafrul Police Station, picked up Azizul Haque as he went out of the courtroom soon after the proceedings, and took him to police custody in the afternoon.
On February 1, nine-year-old Sidratul Muntaha Paloma, a class-II student of Ibrahimpur branch of Monipur High School and College, was killed when a bus rolled over her in Mirpur-14 while she was on her way to school.
Appearing before the judges, Azizul admitted that the bus that ran over Paloma was not fully fit for plying the streets and its driver also did not have a valid driving licence.
Some newspapers reported the bus that ran over Paloma belonged to the Milk Vita, a cooperatives enterprise.
Following the newspaper reports, Manzill Murshid, president of Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh, on February 6 moved a writ petition as a public interest litigation seeking directives from the HC.
The HC, on the same day, had issued a rule asking the government and the Milk Vita authorities to explain why they should not be directed to compensate the family of the schoolgirl.
It also summoned Milk Vita Chairman Hasib Khan and bus owner Azizul to appear before it yesterday.
During hearing a rule, the court ordered police to implicate Azizul under appropriate sections of criminal law.
It also ordered the government to determine how much compensation should be given to the victim's family.
The government has to form a committee with a deputy secretary of the law ministry to decide the amount of compensation and submit a report in this regard to the court within 30 days, according to the order.
Milk Vita Chairman Hasib Khan, who also appeared before the HC yesterday, said that his organisation did not own the bus that crushed Paloma to death, rather they hired it from Azizul Haque on a one-year contract for carrying Milk Vita's staffs.
He also said the bus was faulty and he did not examine it earlier.
The HC bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik and Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim yesterday ordered the inspector general of police to investigate why the police have failed to arrest Azizul in 26 days after the accident, and take departmental action against the police personnel responsible for failing to perform their job.
Deputy Attorney General ABM Altaf Hossain represented the government.