Driver never had a licence: Rab
The pickup van driver, who ran over and killed five brothers in Cox's Bazar, had no driving licence but had been driving several vehicles for the past two years.
The vehicle also had no updated papers, said the Rapid Action Battalion, after arresting the driver, Shahidul Islam Saiful, 22, from Mohammadpur early yesterday.
Validities of all three important papers -- fitness clearance, route permit and tax token -- expired around three years ago but the pickup was still in operation, Rab officials said yesterday.
"Saiful claimed that he could not see clearly due to heavy fog. As he came close, he noticed the victims but could not control the vehicle immediately due to high speed," Khandaker Al Moin, Rab's Legal and Media wing director, told a press briefing.
The five brothers were killed while another sibling has been fighting for his life after the pickup ran over them on Tuesday morning while they were returning from a crematorium after performing the funeral rites for their recently deceased father in Chakaria.
Saiful was driving the pickup at speed of 65-70 km on the Cox's Bazar-Chattogram highway to deliver vegetables in the district town, despite the fog.
Rab said Mahamudul Karim, owner of the pickup, bought it in 2016 and used it for vegetable transportation. It's fitness clearance, route permit and tax token had expired in 2018.
Mahamadul's son Tarek and nephew Robiul were also in the vehicle during the accident.
Saiful admitted that he was behind the wheel during the accident and stopped the vehicle around 100-feet far from spot.
He walked to the spot and noticed the bodies in a pool of blood, but Tarek insisted to leave immediately, the Rab official said.
Saiful contacted Mahamudul and informed him about the accident. He then parked in Malumghat area and met the owner in Chakaria, where Mahamadul advised him to go into hiding for a year.
Mahamadul, his son and nephew went into hiding too and Rab is trying to trace them.
Saiful, previously a rubber plantation worker, began driving, without a licence, over two years ago. He started driving the pickup a week before the accident on a daily wage of Tk 500.
After the accident, he fled to Bandarban's Lama and started working in rubber plantation again. He came to Dhaka again after noticing the stir caused by the accident.
The investigation officer of the case will look into the allegations of 'previous enmity' made by the victim family, he said, adding that the Rab found no previous ties between the driver or the owner with the family.
Speaking to this paper, Munni Sushil, sister of the victims, said "On January 29, 40-50 miscreants attacked our house. They threatened to kill my father. The next day, January 30, my father died of a heart attack."
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