3 cops killed as train hits police car

Three police constables were killed and two others injured as a train hit a police car at an unmanned level crossing in Chattogram's Sitakunda upazila yesterday.

Locals and witnesses said the vehicle went onto the level crossing at Fakirpara as the bar at the gate was not lowered. The gateman remained absent from work for the last two days, they added.

The deceased are Mohammed Hossain of Cox's Bazar, Eskandar Ali Molla of Bagerhat, and Mizanur Rahman of Gopalganj.

Sub-inspector Sujan Sharma and constable Shamar Shah, who was the driver of the vehicle, were undergoing treatment at Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH). Sujan, who sustained a serious head injury, had an operation.

Police said gatekeeper Shahriar Mahmud Dipu is on the run.

Sources at Bangladesh Railway said Dipu was not a permanent employee of the railway. He was working on a contract.

The level crossing is an authorised one and under the jurisdiction of the railway, they added.

Md Tofayel Ahmed, officer-in-charge of Sitakunda Model Police Station, told The Daily Star, "The police team led by SI Sujan Sharma was going to arrest an accused in a case filed under the women and children repression prevention act."

He said the team took Shahadat Hossain, a member of Salimpur Union Parishad, with it to arrest the accused. When the police car went onto the level crossing around noon, the Chattogram-bound Sonar Bangla train hit the vehicle, the OC said, quoting witnesses.

Shahadat, who was also wounded in the accident, was taking treatment at CMCH.

Witness Md Tarek, a vegetable vendor, said, "Amid the heavy rain, we tried to alert the police car after hearing the whistle of the running train. The vehicle was crossing the rail track slowly. At that time, the bar at the gate was not lowered."

"I rescued the SI, three constables and sent them to the hospital."

The deceased were in the back seats, Tarek added.

This newspaper could not find any railway official on the spot till 5:00pm.

Quoting gateman Dipu, Tarek and two other locals said Dipu did not get his wage for over three months.

Tarek said, "Dipu told me that he was unpaid for a few months. Dipu also said he went to senior officials of the railway, but to no avail."

Dipu used to come to the workplace around 9:00am in the morning and leave after several hours, said roadside shopkeepers and vendors.

Contacted, Abidur Rahman, divisional railway manager of East Zone, told The Daily Star, "We have sacked the gateman and formed a four-member committee to investigate the incident."

About the gateman's wage, he said, "The gateman works under a contractor and submitted his bill to a BR section that does not deal with it, creating the complexity over his payment."