Deaths in road crashes trigger protests

15 November 2009, 17:00 PM

Star National Desk

Death of a young man in Sylhet and a student in Rangpur in road accidents triggered protest by locals on Saturday. Our Staff Correspondent in Sylhet reports: Agitated pedestrians and locals put up road barricade at the Humayun Rashid Square near Shahjalal Bridge Saturday night after a young man was runover by a speeding truck. Victim Suranjan Sutradhar, 20, was an employee of a cable operator and hailed from village Jahanpur of Derai upazila in Sunamganj. Locals and police said, a gang of extortionists tried to stop a truck for toll near the Humayun Rashid Chowdhury square at about 5:30 pm while the driver tried to speed away. The running truck hit Suranjit on the bike killing him on the spot. Soon after, the agitated locals wielding rods and sticks, put up barricade on the road. Over 200 vehicles of Sylhet-Zakiganj road, Sylhet-Dhaka highway and Sylhet-Fenchuganj road remained stranded for about three hours as thousands others joined them around the square. The mob caught the truck driver and gave him a good beating. As policemen tried to rescue him, they swooped on him too. The mob also vandalised some 20 business establishments in the area. In Rangpur, agitated students and locals blocked road at Bailey Bridge point on the Rangpur-Kurigram highway and set two coaches on fire there under Kaunia upazila protesting death of a student in road mishap. According to our correspondent, a Rangpur bound passenger bus of Anindya Paribahan from Lalmonirhat hit bicyclist Mahmudul Hassan Bulbul, 22, a student of Bailey Bridge Agriculture and Technical Institute and son of Abdul Mazed of village Shyampur Noyapukur under Sadar upazila injuring him seriously at 4:30 pm. Immediately after the incident, locals put up barricade at the point and burnt two passenger coaches coming from Dhaka. The injured youth succumbed to his injuries soon after admission at the Rangpur Medical College and Hospital (RMCH). Plying of all sorts of vehicles on Rangpur-Kurigram and Rangpur-Lalmonirhat routes remained suspended for several hours.