Zaglul’s death: Journos for making probe report public

Journalists today demanded the government makes public the report to be submitted by the committee formed to investigate the road crash that killed veteran Journalist Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury.

They also urged the government for implementing the recommendations of the probe body to ensure road safety.

The journalists came up with the demands after forming a human chain in protest against the death of the veteran journalist, who died in a tragic road crash at Karwan Bazaar in Dhaka Saturday night.

The journalists from Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU), Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) and Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) organised the programme around 11:45am and continued for more than one hour.

A five-member committee had been formed to investigate the incident on Sunday and will submit the report within three working days.

“We saw many probe reports on road crashes in the past. Those are not made public. This time, we want to know the findings, recommendations and its implementations,” said Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul, president of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists.

The journalists demanded immediate arrest of the driver of the bus responsible for the death of Zaglul.

“We want capital punishment for this reckless driver and others responsible for road crashes,” said Abdul Jalil Bhuyian, secretary general of BFUJ.

“A killer gets death penalty for killing a man. So a driver should be sentenced to death for his reckless driving if anyone dies for his fault,” Jalil Bhuyian added.

Shakhawat Hossain Badsha, president of DRU said, “If anyone kills a tiger then he will get 10 years jail in prison. So why the driver will not get capital punishment for his driving.”

The High Court on November 20 reinstated the highest punishment for reckless driving to seven years' imprisonment

According to the police, 3,000 people die in road accidents on average in the country every year. The World Bank puts the figure at 12,000 while the World Health Organisation says it is 18,000 deaths a year.

The police also say that 90 percent of the accidents could be attributed to speeding and reckless driving.

Zaglul fell on the road when he tried to get off from a bus but the vehicle recklessly pulled away before he could, witnesses said on Saturday.

He suffered severe injuries to his head and died later.

Zaglul was last serving as consulting editor of the Financial Express.