Rajib’s Death Probe: Family files no-confidence petition with Dhaka court

An uncle of Rajib Hossain, a third-year student of Titumir College, filed a no-confidence petition yesterday against the probe report submitted by Sub-Inspector Idris Ali of Shahbagh Police Station in connection with the case filed over Rajib's death.

Md Jahidul Islam, maternal uncle of Rajib, filed the petition with the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Md Sarafuzzaman Ansary saying that the IO did not investigate the case properly.

Rajib lost his right hand after it got stuck between two speeding buses of the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) and Sajan Paribahan while they were trying to overtake each other in the capital's Banglamotor area on April 3, 2018.

After two weeks in a coma, Rajib died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on April 17.

The petitioner also alleged that the IO did not even interrogate the victim's paternal uncle Jakir Hossain, who submitted the FIR with Shahbagh Police Station on behalf of Rajib as he was under treatment.

The IO submitted the charge sheet against BRTC bus driver Wahid Ali Sardar, 35, and Sajan Paribahan's Khorshed Alam, 50, on December 15 last year without informing the victim's family members and others involved with the incident.

That is why the case should be further investigated, Jahidul's petition said.

After recording the petitioner's statement, the court fixed April 1 for further hearing on the petition.

The IO submitted the charge sheet under section 304(b) of the Bangladesh Penal Code, which only gives a three-year jail term. But the offences the accused had committed should be under section 304, which gives imprisonment for life.

In his petition, Jahidul alleged that the IO brought charges against the accused under section 304(b) of Penal Code only to save them from the rigorous punishment.  

Following a writ petition, the High Court on May 8, 2018, ordered the bus companies to pay Tk 1 crore to Rajib's family.

The BRTC and Sajan Paribahan challenged the HC's order and the Supreme Court on May 22 stayed the order and asked the HC to form an independent committee to assess the liabilities.

The committee, led by Prof Mizanur Rahman, director of Accident Research Institute at Buet, in its report submitted in September said reckless driving was the "primary cause of the accident".

It largely blamed the Sajan Paribahan bus for the accident. The report said the buses were racing and the Sajan Paribahan bus tried to drive into a gap to block the gate of the BRTC bus. The Sajan Paribahan bus side swiped the BRTC bus which resulted in Rajib being fatally injured.

The report pointed out that the heavy vehicles were illegally being driven by drivers with licences to drive light vehicles. It held the BRTC bus liable to "some extent", the petition said.