Driving seized bus: Police clear ASI who ran over and killed 2 people

Police cleared ASI Emadul Haque, who ran over and killed two people while driving a seized bus in Gulistan in December 2021, of any wrongdoing saying he drove the vehicle in "good faith" to ensure smooth flow of traffic.

Sub-inspector Jahangir Hossain of Paltan Police Station, the investigation officer, submitted a final report to a Dhaka court on September 24.

The IO in the report said there was no evidence that Emadul was driving recklessly and asked the court to clear him from the charges.

The accident happened due to faults in the engine and brakes, he said.

Several police officials, including from the traffic division, told The Daily Star that police officers are not supposed to drive seized vehicles and that such vehicles are supposed to be towed.

Although Paltan police cleared Emadul, Wari police on August 31 last year pressed charges against the actual driver of the bus, Roni Mia.

On December 30, 2021, Roni was driving the same bus and hit a constable near Kaptan Bazar Complex, after which police seized the bus and ASI Emadul took the steering and ploughed through a crowd, killing two men and injuring at least two others.

Emadul was arrested and suspended following the incident.

The deceased are: Shukur Mahmud, 58, a Bangladesh-born US citizen, and Raisul Kabir Tusher, an employee of a garment accessories company.

Tusher's father Kamal Uddin Chowdhury Dulal that night filed a case against Emadul with Paltan Police Station under the Road Transport Act on charge of causing the deaths by reckless driving.

The IO in the investigation report, however, claimed the complainant filed the case on the basis of a misconception and the investigation findings do not corroborate the allegations.

He also mentioned that the ASI had no ulterior motive for such injuries or deaths. He is an experienced driver and has a professional licence that permits him to drive such buses. He also worked at the traffic division of the DMP as a driver, the SI said in the investigation report.

The IO said Roni had caused an accident, injuring constable Nasir Uddin, and fled the scene along with his assistant abandoning the vehicle. The ASI tried to take the bus to a safer place.

After the incident on December 30, 2021, a correspondent of this paper visited the spot and talked to over two dozen eyewitnesses.

They said ASI Emadul stopped the bus near Kaptan Bazar Complex and forced the driver to get out of the vehicle.

The ASI then sat behind the steering wheel and was driving the bus to the nearby Sergeant Ahad Police Box when he lost control and ran over and killed two people.

IO Jahangir told The Daily Star that while two people were killed, ASI Emadul did not drive the bus recklessly; rather the incident happened when he tried to save a person.

"I submitted what I found during the investigation. I talked to the seniors and submitted a final report in the case," he told The Daily Star on October 2.

Asked whether the victims' families were being deprived of justice, the IO said, "The victims' families told me they had no objections [to the final report]."

When asked what an ordinary citizen's fate would be if he or she did what ASI Emadul did, the IO skirted the question and said Emadul was in jail for seven months only because he was a police officer.

Ordinary people get bail in one and a half months in cases filed under this act, he said.

Golam Mostafa, elder brother of Sukur, one of the victims, said, "Nearly two years have passed … What is the point of demanding justice now? My brother will never return."

Asked whether they settled with the accused, he replied in the negative.

Talking to The Daily Star, a police official said law enforcers should never drive a vehicle involved in an accident. "The vehicle should be towed for safety reasons … ," he told The Daily Star preferring anonymity.