‘Friendship’ gave him steering wheel
Even though he was not appointed by Dhaka North City Corporation, Md Hanif alias Fatik, had been illegally driving the corporations' vehicles for around three years, taking advantage of "friendships" with DNCC staffers.
He was arrested in Chandpur by the the Rapid Action Battalion on Friday after Ahsan Kabir Khan, 48, was run over by his vehicle in the capital's Panthapath area on Thursday.
According to Rab, Fatik earned money by selling fuel allotted for the vehicles he drove.
Following the arrest, law enforcers yesterday said that Fatik was driving the compactor vehicle that hit Kabir, a pillion rider of a motorcycle.
Around eight years ago, Fatik used to work as the assistant of technician who repaired DNCC vehicles, said Khandaker Al Moin, director of Rab's legal and media wing.
In 2019, Fatik got his licence to drive light vehicles.
He drove light vehicles for around two years and then started driving heavy vehicles since, while working as a mechanic, he established "good relations" with the staffers and drivers of the DNCC, who he would take the keys from to drive heavy DNCC vehicles, he said during a briefing at the Rab media centre in Karwan Bazar
Fatik, however, did not disclose the names of those he maintained friendships with.
"We will check with the department concerned of the DNCC for names and then verify them."
During primary interrogation, Fatik told Rab he did not know who the designated driver of the vehicles was.
On Thursday, Fatik was carrying garbage from Panthapath to Gabtoli. He hit and killed Kabir, a garment accessories trader and a former employee of the Bangla daily Prothom Alo, on his third trip, said the Rab director.
Just the day before, Nayeem Hasan, a student of Notre Dame College, was killed after a Dhaka South City Corporation vehicle hit him while he was crossing a road in the capital's Gulistan.
Rab arrested the DSCC cleaner Md Harun from Jatrabari on Friday in connection with the accident. Like Fatik, he too was not an authorised driver of the vehicle.
Both garbage trucks caused the accidents while they were on the streets between 11:00am to 2:30pm, even though the High Court in October 2017 directed both corporations to carry out garbage removal work in the hours between 10:00pm and 6:00am.
About violating the directives, DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islam, said it has been an old practice to do the work at daytime.
"But we have now decided that all garbage trucks would operate only between 10:00pm and 7:00am in the upcoming days," he told The Daily Star.
He added that CCTV cameras and GPS trackers will be installed in all the corporation's vehicles to bring them under strict monitoring.
The DNCC will also monitor the usage of the allotted 20 litres of fuel for each trip.
Md Abu Naser, public relation officer of DSCC, said, "We [too] have taken some steps, like implementing a token system, to monitor such anomalies."
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