‘We want safe roads, we want justice’

Students of different schools took to the streets yesterday, demanding justice for their peer Ali Hossain, who died in a road accident on Sunday morning.

They blocked several points including Farmgate and Bijoy Sarani on Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, shouting slogans for safe roads.

The areas were once again reverberated with the slogan: "We want safe roads, we want justice" , the same that were used during the mass student protests in 2018.

The fresh protest for safe roads ensued yesterday, a day after Ali (17), a class ten student of Government Science High School died after being hit by a car in Dhaka's Tejgaon Industrial area.

Witnesses said the students first gathered at Farmgate area around 11:30am. Later, student of some nearby schools joined them.

Braving the rain, they continued their protest, halting vehicular movement in the area. They also checked license of drivers of many vehicles.  Meanwhile, police arrested car driver Ziaul Huq (50) and seized the vehicle from Dhaka's Ashulia area yesterday morning.

HM Azimul Haue, Tejgaon Division Police deputy commissioner, said they identified the vehicle analysing 37 CCTV footages and made the arrest.

The Tejgaon-bound speeding car from Mohakhali knocked Ali down as he was crossing road for attending coaching classes, he said.

The driver fled immediately and hid in Ashulia. 

The car with the National Board of Revenue sticker belongs to a board official.

Police are trying to know whether he was inside the car during the accident, said a police source. 

During yesterday's protest, the Ali Hossain's classmate said they had class tests from 10:00am on Sunday and were informed about his Ali's death after the tests.

Another student said students took to the streets in 2018 demanding safety on roads. Several years have gone by but nothing has changed.

The protestors, however, vacated the roads around 1:30pm upon request from police and teachers of educational institutions. However, some of them said they would take to the streets again today.

In August 2018, thousands of students, mostly teenagers, took to the streets following the death of two students in a road accident in Kurmitola area.

The protest for safe roads soon spread across the country.

Another phase of protests sparked in November last year after Notre Dame College student Nayeem Hasan (17) died, being crushed by a city corporation garbage truck.